U.S. Magistrate Mikel Williams says he will decide by Aug. 4 whether to impose a permanent injunction on the J.R. Simplot Co.’s expansion of its Smoky Canyon phosphate mine near the Idaho/Wyoming border.
Last fall, Earthjustice sued on behalf of the Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Defenders of Wildlife to block the expansion, saying it would create a major environmental disturbance and that inadequate scientific review failed to address impacts. They contend the expansion would contaminate nearby waterways, harm wildlife, and damage roadless areas in the Caribou/Targhee National Forest.
Williams took the unusual step of accompanying representatives of both parties on a six-hour field trip to the mine site on Saturday, July 25, after attorneys presented oral arguments the previous Friday at a long hearing in Pocatello to address the GYC’s motion for summary judgment asking the court to prohibit expansion until the Forest Service, BLM, and Simplot conduct additional studies and cleanup.
“I believe the field trip helped the judge put all of the arguments in perspective. He now knows where all of these physical features of the mine are located and how Simplot has been dealing with the claim of selenium contamination,” said David Maguire, an attorney representing interveners who support the mine’s expansion.
The Smoky Canyon Mine supplies Simplot’s fertilizer plant near Pocatello with 1.5 million annual tons of phosphate rock via a 90-mile slurry line. Simplot officials have said the mine’s phosphate reserves will be exhausted by 2010 if the company is not allowed to expand onto two parcels. Preparatory work has resumed after previous temporary injunctions were lifted or reversed.
At the July 24 hearing, Williams considered a cross motion filed by the BLM and Forest Service for summary judgment to dismiss the GYC lawsuit, arguing the federal agencies and Simplot had complied with the Clean Water Act, National Environmental Policy Act, and the National Forest Management Act. They said there was no basis for GYC to file a petition for permanent injunction.
Simplot also filed a motion for summary judgment, echoing the BLM and USFS arguments. Interveners said a permanent injunction would serve no purpose other than cause loss of Smoky Canyon and Don Plant jobs, impacting more than 500 employees in the region. The interveners include United Steelworkers Local 632, the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, the cities of Pocatello, Chubbuck, Soda Springs, and Afton, and Bannock, Power, Caribou, and Lincoln counties.
In an affidavit, the interveners disputed the environmentalists’ contention that the Simplot Pocatello plant could be provided phosphate ore from Ashley Creek Properties near Vernal, Utah, if the Smoky Canyon Mine were shut down.
Scott Hobdey, regional labor economist for the Idaho Department of Labor, said in his affidavit that fewer jobs are providing a sufficient income to provide self-sufficiency for families of three or four. In 2006, 39.7 percent of jobs in Idaho provided sufficient income, but in 2008 that slipped to 35.9 percent.
Economic data shows Pocatello’s unemployment rate spiked from 5.3 percent in April to 6.3 percent in May to 8.2 percent in June, the highest rate since 1992, Hobdey noted. He previously said if the Smoky Canyon Mine and Simplot’s Don plant were to close, about 1,800 jobs would be lost directly or indirectly, causing $80.2 million in annual earnings reductions.
In another affidavit, Gynii Gilliam, Bannock Development Corp.’s executive director, said Pocatello has lost about 360 construction jobs, 560 retail jobs, 450 transportation/warehousing jobs, and 320 government administration jobs the past year. “Recruiting new businesses has become quite difficult because of the current financial markets. Retaining businesses continues to be more difficult as the economy shrinks,” she said.