HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – The Fort Belknap Indian Community and other plaintiffs have followed through on their promise to sue the Montana Department of Environmental Quality after the state dismissed a lawsuit against former Pegasus Gold Vice President Phillips Baker, Jr, who is now the President of Hecla Mining.
The Montana Free Press has previously reported that if successful, the dropped lawsuit would have labeled Baker a “bad actor” and forced Hecla to reimburse the state for millions of dollars spent cleaning up the Zortman-Landusky Mine.
The new lawsuit was filed Wednesday in Lewis and Clark County District Court by the Fort Belknap Indian Community, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and several conservation groups.
Pegasus Gold went bankrupt in 1998 and left the state and federal agencies on the hook for millions of dollars in cleanup costs. This led to the creation of the “Metal Mine Reclamation Act,” which includes a provision that labels ‘bad actors.’
The Gianforte administration has argued that bad actors are better dealt with through legislative, rather than judicial, channels.
Hecla Mining has been trying to move forward with proposed silver and copper mines in northwestern Montana.
