The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has temporarily halted the expansion of the J.R. Simplot Co.’s Smoky Canyon phosphate mine in Southeast Idaho that environmentalists say would contaminate nearby waterways, harm wildlife, and damage roadless areas in the Caribou/Targhee National Forest near the Wyoming border.

In a ruling issued Friday, April 10, a three-judge panel ruled U.S. District Judge Mikel Williams failed to consider whether logging and topsoil removal would cause irreparable harm to the Sage Creek area when he declined in November to issue a preliminary injunction blocking the expansion. It remanded the case back to Williams. The mine provides 1.5 million annual tons of phosphate used in the production of liquid and dry fertilizers at Simplot’s Don Plant near Pocatello.

“We are aware of the court decision and are complying with the decision. At this time, no further comments,” said Susan Richardson, Simplot corporate communications director. U.S. Department of Justice spokesman Andrew Ames said his department is also reviewing the ruling.

In the past, Simplot officials have said the Smoky Canyon Mine’s phosphate reserves would be exhausted by 2010 if the company was not allowed to expand onto two forest parcels. Last June, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management approved the expansion, which company officials said would keep the Pocatello plant running for another 20 years.

Simplot attorney Albert Barker has warned if the expansion were stopped, mining layoffs and the eventual closure of the Pocatello plant could result. About 375 are employed at the plant and another 210 at the mine, accounting for a payroll that exceeds $52 million. Another estimated 1,450 people are indirectly employed by the operations.

In December, Simplot began its infrastructure work, which includes clearing trees, paving roads, and installing utilities. The company estimates it would take a year to complete those projects and make mining possible at the expansion parcels. Simplot indicated it would build a 100-foot-wide reinforced road to haul mining and timber equipment to the new mine site. Trees also would be cut and topsoil removed from areas to be mined.

Last fall, Earthjustice sued on behalf of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Defenders of Wildlife, contending that expanding the Smoky Canyon Mine would create a major environmental disturbance, and that inadequate scientific review failed to address impacts.

The appellate panel agreed there were serious questions about whether the U.S. Forest Service and BLM had violated the National Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Act,and the National Forest Management Act in approving the proposed expansion. The judges, however, said the lower court did not abuse its discretion when it found the environmental groups were unlikely to succeed on the merits of their case.

Pocatello attorney David Maguire, who represents nine parties that say they would be adversely affected by a disruption in Smoky Canyon operations, said he and Simplot would jointly file a petition on Monday, April 20, urging Williams to expedite addressing the Ninth Circuit’s concerns.

Maguire said he’s disappointed by the federal appeals court’s ruling, but he remains optimistic the issue will be settled in court and mining preparations will resume by this summer. He said Smoky Canyon has an $80 million regional economic impact and helps provide farmers with affordable, quality fertilizer.

Pocatello Mayor Roger Chase, who worked at Simplot’s Pocatello plant for many years, called the appellate court’s ruling a “big disappointment” and said it could have a “devastating impact” on Southeast Idaho’s economy.