County's response to Hecla matter disappoints

To the editor:

A recent “guest column” by our Lincoln County Commissioners about Hecla Mining and the State of Montana’s attempt to enforce the “bad actor law” in regards to their proposed Montanore and Rock Creek projects, bears some additional comment.

I will agree, with everything I’ve heard and read about Hecla, that they sound like they’ve developed a credible track record of a responsible and ethical mining company. At issue is the Commissioners’ statement that the at-the-time Chief Financial Officer Phillip Baker was “neither a principle or controlling member of Pegasus Mining,” who left the state holding the bag for millions at the Zortman Landusky mine in north central Montana.

I guess we could split hairs all day but a CFO better than no one else has his finger on the pulse of the finances and future of a corporation. Declaring bankruptcy isn’t just something that you wake up in the morning and sounds like a good idea. There is no doubt in my mind this was well orchestrated and years in the making.

For a salt in the wound, the corporate officers (of which normally includes CFOs) walked away with giving themselves millions in bonuses while the taxpayers got stuck with a $32 million clean-up bill and $2 million annual water treatment tab, forever.

Personally, I think the “bad actor” law is a little odd, like locking the barn door after the horse is gone, but maybe its intent was to keep the next horse in before it runs away. But the law is the law and laying blame on the DEQ and Governor’s office is wrong.

Lastly, what disappointed me most from the Commissioners’ opinion is the disregard for Lincoln County history, once again tripping over themselves at all costs for a corporation to move in under the promises of jobs and economic prosperity, when it’s almost always a bust. In the meantime, small businesses and entrepreneurs who are keeping this place alive are largely ignored.

—Tom Horelick Libby