The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overruled U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams’ recent decision that would have allowed the J.R. Simplot Co. to resume expansion work on its Smoky Canyon phosphate mine in Eastern Idaho, issuing a second stay in as many months to give the federal appellate court more time to digest material in the case.
The Smoky Canyon mine provides 1.5 million tons of phosphate annually to Simplot’s Pocatello fertilizer plant. Company officials have said the mine’s reserves will be exhausted by 2010 if the company is not allowed to expand onto two sections in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition filed an emergency motion for an injunction pending its appeal of Williams’ May 13 lifting of the 9th Circuit Court’s April temporary stay. Williams ruled Simplot could resume clearing trees, removing topsoil, constructing roads, and installing utilities for the mine expansion, effective Friday, May 22.
On Thursday, May 21, the three-judge federal panel once again blocked commencement of the expansion work, essentially extending its original stay. It stated: “In light of the voluminous filings by the parties, we have not had adequate time to evaluate the serious issues raised by this case. We therefore reimpose our temporary stay of Simplot’s preparatory activities at the mine in order to maintain the status quo until we have had the opportunity to consider fully the Coalition’s motion and the opposition briefs filed by the federal appellees, Simplot, and the Intervener cities and counties. … The temporary stay will remain in effect until further order of the court.”
Simplot spokesman David Cuoio responded by saying, “We had hoped that a ruling would be forthcoming last week, but we certainly understand that the judicial process takes time. We are hopeful the 9th Circuit Court will rule in our favor in the very near future so we can resume site work in preparation for opening the new sections of Smoky Canyon Mine.”
On April 10, the 9th Circuit Court temporarily halted preparatory work for the mine’s expansion not far from Afton, Wyo., after the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Defenders of Wildlife argued it would contaminate nearby waterways, harm wildlife, and damage roadless areas.
The three-judge panel remanded the case back to Williams, who declined last November to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the mine’s expansion, upholding the project’s authorization by the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Simplot attorneys filed a motion on April 12 to lift the temporary stay and requested an expedited proceeding, arguing that stopping work in the middle of the project poses problems for maintaining existing work, preventing erosion from untended work, and impacting timber and well-drilling contractors and their employees.
Intervening on April 20 in support of lifting the temporary stay were United Steelworkers Local 632; the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation; the cities of Pocatello, Chubbuck, Soda Springs, and Afton; and Bannock, Power, Caribou, and Lincoln counties, who said halting the Smoky Canyon Mine’s expansion would cause widespread economic harm.
Williams is expected to issue a final ruling on the merits of an overall lawsuit to block the mine’s expansion by Aug. 4.