Navajo Transitional Energy Company

Editor's Note 03/31/2020 : This segment has been updated to clarify that NTEC is operating the mine, which Spring Creek Coal LLC, a subsidiary of the now-defunct Cloud Peak Energy, holds the permit to.

The state gave Montana’s most productive coal mine the go-ahead to expand its mining capacity, effectively extending the mine’s life to 2031.

The expansion continues despite the current owner’s debt to the state.

Navajo Nation leaders say the Tribe won’t financially back bonds for a subsidiary energy company that recently acquired three mines in Montana and Wyoming. 

Coal workers in Montana are out of a job until a Navajo-owned company and the state settle a dispute over the extent to which the Tribe is subject to state environmental law.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality opened a 30-day public comment period Tuesday for a proposed major revision at Spring Creek Coal Mine in southeast Montana. The revision could allow about 72 million tons of coal to be mined.