A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel of judges conducted a hearing in Seattle earlier this month that could mark the end of a two-year legal battle over the J.R. Simplot Co.’s planned expansion of its Smoky Canyon mine in Southeast Idaho – the sole source of phosphate ore for Simplot’s Don fertilizer plant near Pocatello, Idaho.
Attorneys for Simplot and environmental groups opposing the expansion presented oral arguments before the panel, which could render a ruling in January or February.
In September 2008, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council, and Defenders of Wildlife filed a federal lawsuit challenging a June 2008 decision by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to allow the mine to expand in the Caribou/Targhee National Forest. The groups argued it would violate the Clean Water Act, the National Forest Management Act, and the National Environmental Policy Act.
In a ruling against the environmental groups in August 2009, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams noted a cover design for the mine had been extensively researched, and a quality control program monitored by an independent third party had been required. Extensive public comment shaped the plan, he noted. It was the fourth consecutive court ruling in favor of the mine’s expansion since September 2008.
A 2009 economic impact study conducted by Idaho Economics, a Boise research firm, concluded if the Smoky Canyon Mine and Simplot fertilizer plant were to close, it would adversely impact 12 eastern Idaho and western Idaho counties by $171 million annually and cost about 600 jobs.
The Greater Yellowstone Coalition says three scientific studies show selenium from phosphate mining in Caribou County violates state standards in surrounding waterways and is contributing to declining trout populations.
Simplot reportedly has less than a year’s worth of phosphate ore resources remaining in existing sections of the Smoky Canyon Mine. Various Idaho and Wyoming cities and counties, United Steelworkers Local 632, and the Idaho Farm Bureau Association have intervened on Simplot’s behalf. Simplot officials said the expansion should provide ore for another 15 years to the mine, which was started in 1983.