After J.R. Simplot Co. officials and Greater Yellowstone Coalition Idaho Director Marv Hoyt explained the pros and cons of phosphate industry mining, some Pocatello City Council members expressed their support for Simplot’s positive economic impact in Eastern Idaho. Both sides were presented during the council’s June 11 study session. The issue has been prominent recently with Simplot’s announcement that it would issue layoff notices to 114 workers at its Pocatello fertilizer plant and its Smoky Canyon phosphate mine.
The layoffs were rescinded after the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a GYC-requested stay on preparatory work for expansion of the mine, which is the Don Plant’s sole source of 1.5 million tons of phosphate ore each year (GM June 8, p. 1). U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams is scheduled to rule by Aug. 4 on the coalition’s overall legal challenge to the mine’s expansion in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest.
Hoyt said his coalition’s mission is to protect the 20 million acres of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem. Pocatello is on the edge of it, but phosphate mining is done within its borders. In 1996, the deaths of horses – and later, hundreds of sheep – in Caribou County was blamed on selenium from phosphate mines contaminating area waterways.
About 160 miles of the Blackfoot, Salt, and Bear Rivers in Eastern Idaho do not meet beneficial use standards, Hoyt said, asserting that federal agencies and phosphate companies have been “dragging their feet” on cleaning up contaminated mining sites. “I think cleanup is paramount, not study after study.”
Hoyt said the Greater Yellowstone Coalition will ask that a 45-day comment period for a new phosphate mine planned by Monsanto be lengthened to give more time to review highly technical information. He suggested Pocatello officials also should request the period be extended.
“From our perspective, we don’t oppose or support it. Our perspective is as long as there is no selenium contamination, we won’t oppose it,” Hoyt said, urging cleanup of old mine sites. “The other companies are either doing little or negotiating. It’s been 13 years and time to clean up these sites.”
When Councilman Roger Bray noted Star Valley farmers and ranchers were supplementing cattle feed with selenium and that it’s an essential part of a healthy diet, Hoyt answered, “It doesn’t take much more than a minute amount to become highly toxic.” He said it’s in the best interest of companies to clean up sites they have contaminated in the past.
Councilman Brian Underwood said he supports the efforts Simplot, Monsanto, and Agrium have made to ensure environmental safety and a strong economy. He suggested the Greater Yellowstone Coalition may need to be required to put up a $2.3 million bond like Simplot when the coalition files lawsuits that adversely affect jobs.
Lori Hamann, Simplot senior permit manager, said a Pole Canyon stream diversion program designed to minimize selenium contamination has proven successful at the Smoky Canyon Mine. She stressed that the permitting process is very cumbersome for Simplot, Agrium, and Monsanto.