Two Rock Creek permits open for comment

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has released for public comment two draft permits for Revett Silver’s Rock Creek Mine project. The draft permits do not authorize construction or operation at the mine, but both are required steps under state and federal permitting processes.

“These are some of the permits that are required for operation,” general manager Doug Stiles said. “It’s not the full permit package, but it’s good news.”

Stiles said the two permits are for storm water discharges during road improvements and facility construction at the mine site. Instead of a general storm water permit, the two drafts are for more stringent individual permits. Stiles said the permit does not include discharges that were previously challenged in litigation.

“The permit doesn’t include the outfalls that were challenged before,” he said. “The permits are very stringent and protective of the environment.”

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality report indicates the first permit, MT0031673, under which discharge will only potentially occur during a limited number of days during improvements to the existing Forest Service road and the installation of a pipeline and power line.

“The permittee applied for an invdividual permit for the discharge of storm water related to the construction of ancillary facilities associated to a proposed mine and the excavation of a trench in an existing Forest Service road to install a pipeline and power line, followed by backfilling the trench,” the report read. “In addition, the permittee will make improvements to the road in order to reduce the sediment delivery to the Rock Creek drainage. The improvements include new rolling dips, gravel surfacing in selected locations and new culverts at selected stream crossings. The majority of the activity will occur within the existing road prism except for the location where directional drilling will be used to pass the pipeline and power line under Rock Creek and two short sections of road widening or realignment. The pipeline and power line installation will occur in the vicinity of Forest Service Road 150 between Highway 200 and the adit site. The potential to discharge storm water from each outfall will only occur for a few days during active construction as the project progresses toward the adit. Ancillary facility construction will consist of installing storm water controls, topsoil stripping and stockpiling, grading for the adit pad and the construction of a lined water treatment pond.”

The second permit, MT0030287, is an extension of a permit which expired in 2006, but which has been administratively continued since that time. Three outfalls included in the original permit were voided by litigation between 2006 and 2009, and the new proposed permit excludes discharges from those outfalls. The permit covers storm water discharges from outfalls from the mine’s proposed tailing site, mill site and adit evaluation site.

“The proposed project, known as Rock Creek Mine, would consist of 583 acres of surface disturbance and includes an underground mine, four adits (evaluation, service and ventilation), utility and transportation corridors, a froth flotation mill facility, a tailing impoundment, wastewater treatment facility and support facilities. Under this renewal, only storm water discharge from the outfalls described below is permitted. The discharge of process wastewater or any water resulting from mine dewatering activities is prohibited at these outfalls,” the report read.

Stiles said the company is pleased to see the permitting process moving forward, even though these specific permits don’t authorize any actual work at the mine.

“We are excited,” he said. “We see this as a good step forward for full permitting on the Rock Creek project. We look forward to carrying the process through to completion.”

The public comment period for the draft permits is open until Sept. 2. A public meeting has been scheduled for Sept. 1 in Noxon.