Late Friday, Billings Federal District Judge Susan Waters ruled that the massive expansion of the Rosebud open pit mine was unlawfully approved.
The expansion project was approved by the federal Office of Surface Mining (OSM) in June 2019 and allowed Western Rosebud Mining, LLC (WRM) to mine a new area known as Area F.
The court ruled that OSM failed to consider the impact of the massive expansion on water resources, the Yellowstone River and the climate.
combustion
The expansion will allow for an additional 6,500 acres of open-pit mining containing approximately 70 million tons of coal that will be combusted almost entirely at the Colstrip power plant and release more than 100 million tons of greenhouse gases.
Burning coal at the Colstrip Power Plant requires diverting 25,000 to 50,000 acre feet of water annually from the Yellowstone River.
“OSM has a responsibility to tell the public the truth about the dangers of mining and burning coal. Despite clear language in the law, it has consistently failed to live up to its mandate,” said Shiloh Hernandez, a senior attorney at Earthjustice.
“Continuing coal development is untenable based on clear, honest analysis. OSM now has the opportunity and obligation to map out and analyze the transition at Colstrip only for communities and climates.”
benefit
The court agreed with environmental groups, who noted that OSM focused on the economics of the mine and ignored the environmental costs.
OSM’s attempt to use wordplay to avoid disclosing the huge costs of mine expansion does not negate its obligation to conduct a fair analysis of the costs and benefits of mining coal.
While on remand, OSM will be obliged to consider a “middle ground” alternative to ending coal mining at Colstrip.
“This is a massive surface mining expansion at the Colstrip facility, but OSM has largely ignored the impact on water resources and how the expansion will contribute to the climate catastrophe we are experiencing in Montana and nationwide,” Vice President Derf Johnson, director of the Montana Environmental Information Center.
lifeline
“Water is the lifeblood of this state. The operation of this mine and the inevitable burning of coal will cause irreversible damage to Montana and downstream. OSM was caught bidding for the mining industry, not the people.”
The case was brought in November 2019 amid persistent concerns that OSM was ignoring the far-reaching effects of open-pit mining on such a large scale and how burning coal would contribute to an already dire climate crisis.
Zone F will increase the mine area to over 30,000 acres, larger than Billings. The Rosebud coal mine supplies coal exclusively to the Colstrip Power Plant, the largest greenhouse gas polluter in Montana and one of the largest in the western United States.
