After a Missoula District Court Judge blocked the state and a construction company from operating a gravel pit near Elbow Lake, lawyers for the two groups appealed the decision to the Montana Supreme Court, which accepted the appeal at the beginning of November.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality and LHC construction are hoping to reverse an earlier decision made by Missoula District Court Judge John Larson, which halted a 17-acre gravel pit and asphalt plant just south of Salmon Lake.
Larson first granted a temporary restraining order in July. He then ruled in August that the application for the pit was not sufficient to ensure water and soil quality was not compromised under the Montana Environmental Policy Act.
The judge also ruled the permit that DEQ gave to LHC construction, known as a dryland permit, was not correct.
“The mine at issue is situated above the banks of one of Montana’s most pristine rivers and just above a pristine lake,” Larson wrote in his August decision. “Home to numerous endangered species, the Clearwater River – a tributary to the Blackfoot River – is a treasure not just for the citizens of Missoula County, but to all of Montana’s people.”
Larson noted that neither LHC or DEQ had tested groundwater deep enough below the site to ensure no environmental damage. The DEQ tested the site up to 14 feet, but the project’s application said it would dig up to 20 feet below the ground.
The site is on public Montana State Trust Lands, and borders state conservation land to the north and east. There are also several state-leased and private cabins along the Clearwater River and Elbow Lake.
Protect the Clearwater, a group of residents near Elbow Lake and Seeley Lake, sued the state after the gravel pit was approved this spring. The group filed three separate challenges, two lawsuits in Missoula District Court, and an appeal with the Montana Board of Environmental Review.
The Board of Environmental Review has yet to make any decision over the issue. The two district court cases — one for violating the Montana Environmental Policy Act (MEPA) and the other asking for the temporary restraining order — are still active.
Lawyers for DEQ and LHC construction have continued to challenge both cases, appealing the MEPA case to the Supreme Court and asking for a new judge in the temporary restraining order lawsuit.
Since the ruling, LHC construction has not been able to operate on the site. All original equipment from the site has been hauled off.
LHC lawyers have added that the company has been forced to take a $1 million loss because Larson denied the gravel pit.
With the appeal to the Montana Supreme Court, both legal teams are preparing initial statements for the state justices. The group is also working on arguments in the restraining order case still in Missoula.
It is unknown when the Montana Board Of Environmental Review will make a decision. The group is the authority on environmental issues in Montana, but the group meets rarely and spends months deliberating on cases.
While the case moves on in court, the site where some excavation happened has been reseeded by the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.
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