I find it very sad that the governor has determined Hecla is somehow a “Bad Actor” and wants to prevent them from developing the Rock Creek and Montanore mines. When I read the headlines last week, I thought this was an early April Fool’s Day joke. Hecla? A bad actor? The same Hecla that acquired the Troy Mine when it purchased Rock Creek from Revett, and is currently spending millions of dollars complying with the Troy reclamation plan? The same company that made the decision to begin the reclamation process on their own accord and not by the state or any other federal regulator? The mining company that did so because they wanted to illustrate to everyone in Montana how the other two mines would look after their closures? Really?
Hecla has yet to mine a single ton of ore in MT. The company hasn’t made a single dollar from either the Rock Creek or the Montanore properties which, by the way, they are currently sinking millions of dollars in to properly permit. So the reward from the Governor for their investment into our state is to tell them they must either spend tens of millions more cleaning up a mine site they have absolutely no responsibility for; or fire their CEO because he worked for a company over 20 yrs ago that he had no control or principal interest in.
Sounds like the “Bad Actor” in this scenario is the state, led by Governor Bullock. The Governor is forcing us to add his name to the list of obstructionists that do not care about the opportunity these mines will bring to northwest Montana. Even if it’s a 127 yr old company that has never walked away from its social or environmental responsibilities, building them. How sad.
Submitted by Colleen Snyder of Libby