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Montana Regulators Seek Comment On Rosebud Mine Wastewater Treatment Plan

The Rosebud Mine just outside of Colstrip, Montana.
WildEarth Guardians/Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
/
Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
The Rosebud Mine just outside of Colstrip, Montana.

State regulators are seeking public comment on a proposed wastewater treatment plan as part of an expansion of the Rosebud coal mine in southeastern Montana. 

Montana Department of Environmental Quality spokesperson Paul Driscoll says the draft permit would allow mine owner Western Energy Company to discharge treated wastewater into a number of streams and tributaries.

“Basically there’s settling ponds and there will be a number of them in a large acreage such as this so that the sediment settles out within that sediment pond before the water is discharged,” Driscoll said. 

The permit also requires regular monitoring for pollutants associated with mining, like copper, arsenic and mercury.

Earlier this year Western Energy received federal approval to expand the Rosebud Mine by about 6,500 acres, adding a potential yield of almost 71 million tons of coal. Several environmental groups filed a lawsuit last month saying federal agencies failed to adequately evaluate impacts to surface water quality.

The Rosebud Mine is the main source of coal for the Colstrip and Rosebud power plants.

More information about the permit is available here

The DEQ will hold a public hearing on the wastewater treatment draft permit on Thursday, Dec. 19 from 6 P.M. to 9 P.M. at the Colstrip City Council Chambers. 

Comments can be mailed to DEQ’s Water Quality Division, Water Protection Bureau, PO Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620 or submitted electronically at DEQWPBPublicComments@mt.gov

Comments must be received or postmarked by January 20, 2020.

Kayla writes about energy policy, the oil and gas industry and new electricity developments.