Environmentalists opposing the J.R. Simplot Co.’s expansion of its 5,000-acre Smoky Canyon phosphate mine in Southeast Idaho were dealt a pre-Christmas Eve setback by a U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit panel ruling that agencies did not violate federal laws by allowing the mine’s borders to be extended in the Caribou/Targhee National Forest.
Since 1984, Simplot has operated the open pit mine to supply phosphate ore via a slurry pipeline to its fertilizer complex near Pocatello, about 90 miles away. Company officials argued the ore was nearly exhausted and an expansion into the Deer Creek and Manning Creek sections would extend the mine’s life about 15 years.
Capping more than two years of litigation, a three-judge panel in Seattle, with one judge dissenting, decided on Thursday, Dec. 23, that the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service were proper to permit the mine’s expansion onto federal mineral leases in compliance with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) and the Clean Water Act after reviewing the mine’s potential pollution threat to streams and groundwater.
The ruling was expected to be handed down in January or February after the Ninth Circuit panel heard oral arguments last October. Various Idaho and Wyoming cities and counties, United Steelworkers Local 632, and the Idaho Farm Bureau Association intervened in the case on Simplot’s behalf.
Simplot spokesman David Cuoio said his company was very pleased with the Ninth Circuit ruling and called it great news for employees and eastern Idaho and western Wyoming communities, where Simplot has phosphate mining and manufacturing operations.
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.
“This means we will be able to continue to provide good-paying jobs that are important to not only our employees and their families, but also to the economies of those communities,” Cuoio said.
“In addition, Simplot will be able to keep mining and processing the phosphate that is an essential crop nutrient for American agriculture as it carries out its work to feed our nation and the world.”
Marv Hoyt, a Greater Yellowstone Coalition spokesman, could not be reached about whether the environmental groups will appeal the Ninth Circuit ruling. They argued that the BLM and Forest Service acted “arbitrarily and capriciously” in allowing the mine’s expansion.
Writing for the Ninth Circuit court, Judge Sidney Thomas stated: “The agencies here not only fully recognized and evaluated the impact of future selenium pollution, they specifically asked an outside consultant about the one concern Greater Yellowstone says they ignored, justifiably relied on the vast majority of experts who said that the model accounted for seasonal variations, and further implemented testing and monitoring to ensure compliance. This is all NEPA requires.”
Dissenting, Judge William Fletcher said the Forest Service and BLM had not done enough to assure the mining operation would not contaminate the area. “Even if the model effectively accounted for seasonal variation in the long term, this alone is insufficient, because the mine expansion project will, at most, extend the life of the Smoky Canyon Mine for 14 to 16 years. The agencies’ conclusions, and the majority’s opinion, leave open the possibility that significant environmental pollution will occur at Smoky Canyon Mine in the near term.”
In a ruling against the environmental groups in August 2009, U.S. Magistrate Judge Mikel Williams noted a cover design for the mine was extensively researched and a quality control program monitored by an independent third party was 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. The Ninth Circuit court upheld Williams’ ruling.