The new tribal owner of Montana’s largest coal mine, the Spring Creek Mine, shut down the mine Thursday, saying it hasn’t reached agreement with the state over the terms of mine regulation.
Navajo Transitional Energy Co. (NTEC), which is controlled by the Navajo Indian Nation, said Montana regulators are demanding the company and tribe agree to a “full and complete waiver” of sovereign immunity from state laws.
“We simply cannot consent to a full waiver of the rights preserved in our treaties,” said Tim McLaughlin, the chairman of NTEC. “To do so would put the foundations of Indian Country at great risk.”
But state environmental officials said Thursday they’ve been trying to negotiate the language of a waiver, so that Montana can be assured it can enforce its environmental and mining laws. “Unfortunately, it wasn’t until just this week, just days before (NTEC) closed on Cloud Peak’s holding that we started in earnest to talk about negotiating the language of the waiver,” said Rebecca Harbage, public policy director for the Department of Environmental Quality. “Our hope is that we can move forward as quickly as possible to ensure that operations can continue with the mine.”
Harbage said NTEC and DEQ officials, including the agency’s director, have been conducting talks this week in Helena.
NTEC completed its acquisition of Cloud Peak Energy on Wednesday, buying out the bankrupt company’s coal mines in Wyoming and Montana...
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