Legislation introduced to limit restoration

Boise-The Idaho Mining Association has introduced legislation, backed by phosphate mining companies such as the J.R. Simplot Co. and Monsanto, that would prevent state regulators from requiring them to restore mineral-tainted water beneath their operations to its natural condition after their open pit mines are shut down. In early 2007, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the mining industry, and environmentalists agreed that the Idaho Groundwater Quality Plan enacted in 1992 by the Legislature to protect aquifer quality while allowing mining activities was unclear and needed changes, but negotiations broke down. In November, IDEQ postponed talks until April 2008. Mining companies expressed concern that uncertainty about cleanup requirements could stifle new projects such as the expansion of phosphate mines in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest near the Idaho/Wyoming border, while environmentalists said vagueness makes it easier for the companies to pollute. Selenium from defunct phosphate mines contaminated water and killed livestock in Eastern Idaho in the late 1990s. The IMA disagreed with IDEQ’s plan to force companies to clean up groundwater within eight years after a mine closes, and environmentalists objected to DEQ’s provisions that allowed groundwater pollution below waste rock piles and reclaimed areas. On Feb. 4, the Idaho Senate Health & Welfare Committee printed an IMA-backed bill that would expand IDEQ’s definition of mining areas and clear the way for companies to pollute groundwater beneath waste rock disposal sites, reclaimed areas, and processing plants in perpetuity. IMA lobbyist Jack Lyman said nothing in the bill absolves companies of responsibility to protect neighboring property. Justin Hayes of the Idaho Conservation League said the IMA legislation is an attempt to circumvent unfinished negotiations. He said he wants IDEQ to develop rules that require mining companies to engineer projects to prevent groundwater pollution, rather than accepting it as inevitable. Hayes commended Canadian-based Agrium Inc. for using such high standards at its North Rasmussen Ridge Mine 25 miles from Soda Springs.