#MontanaTribe Opposes ‘Slap on the Wrist’ Fine for #IllegalMining That Polluted #WaterSource

by Elyse Wild May 26, 2026

"The #FortBelknap Indian Community is opposing a settlement between the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and mining companies that illegally mined on the tribes’ ancestral homeland, harming crucial water sources for the reservation.

"From 2020 to 2022, #BlueArcLLC and #LegacyMiningLLC conducted mining activities at the #ZortmanMine in the #LittleRockyMountains without permits, licenses, or performance bonds, resulting in damage to ongoing environmental reclamation efforts.

"The #ZortmanLanduskyMine opened in 1979 and was operated by #PegasusGoldCorp. until it filed for bankruptcy in 1998. Two decades of mining activities caused widespread surface and #GroundwaterContamination, and in 1999, the DEQ and Bureau of Land Management took over the site. In 2001, Luke Ployhar, owner of Blue Arc LLC, bought the land out of the bankruptcy under the condition that the #DEQ had ongoing access to conduct #reclamation activities.

"The two agencies spent approximately $85 million cleaning up the area, according to the consent order. The site needs #WaterTreatment in perpetuity, meaning the additional cost to #taxpayers could exceed hundreds of millions of dollars.

"The illegal mining activities damaged the continuous #environmental cleanup and caused contaminated water to flow downstream to the #FortBelknapIndianCommunity, polluting its water.

In 2022, the state proposed a $516,567 penalty for Blue Arc LLC and Legacy Mining LLC. On Friday, May 22, the DEQ reached a settlement with the companies for $200,000, to be paid over five years. The agreement does not require an admission of wrongdoing."

Read more:
https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/montana-tribe-opposes-slap-on-the-wrist-fine-for-illegal-mining-that-polluted-water-source/

#USPol #CorporateColonialism #NativeAmericanNews #NativeAmericans #WaterIsLife #SlapOnTheWrist #Montana #MontanaDEQ #DEQFail