Signal Peak, Between a Rock and a Hard Place
It’s no secret that there has been an intentional, international push for a culture shift to “clean” energy.
Green energy is a noble mission that could be taken one step at a time, helping society adjust and conform to it in a natural and manageable way. Unfortunately, the push is a fast-paced warfare against natural resources, and those who support it, with complete disregard for the communities and cultures they disrupt.
Coal, a local target for environmental activists, is still mined within the United States, and locally in Musselshell County. Our local mine, Signal Peak, has taken a beating with its public image. Without a doubt there has been fault to be found. However, in “digging deeper”, recent faults used to create scandal against Signal Peak Mine, are more specific to human misdeeds and poor choices, than to actual ills of coal mining and environmental impacts. Isn’t it only fair to look at both sides of the story?
In a story written by Hiroko Tabuchi titled, A Faked Kidnapping and Cocaine: A Montana Mine’s Descent Into Chaos, Hiroko writes that, “the Signal Peak Mine was embroiled in a web of criminal activity. Now, environmental groups want to shut it down.”
The scandal of criminal activity is true. However, the article does not account for both sides of the story. Firstly, the Mine was also a victim of this crime. People who were given places of power within the company were trusted to work with integrity. When their criminal acts were revealed, it is unfair to not recognize that the Mine was the first to have suffered the consequences of the criminal choices made by these employees. In litigation that cost more than just money, the Mine’s reputation has suffered for years because of the actions of these men who had been generously given careers that many others would have gladly taken. The men were immediately removed from employ with the mine when the scandal came to light. One of the criminals has sadly died, and the other is currently serving time in prison. While there is no defense of their actions, it is a tale of human choice that many companies have had to suffer through, trusting the people they hire to be honest, and then being let down.
Signal Peak suffered further conflict after giving a local rancher a very inexpensive and long-term lease for the surface property owned by the mine, to use for grazing. A lease most ranchers would have taken with great gratitude. In delusions of entitlement, the rancher then backstabbed the mine by joining a coalition environmental group and began a barrage of complaints against the mine. The group, called “The Bull Mountain Land Alliance, also associated with Northern Plains Resource Council, an organizer for several environmental groups.
Donations to these groups have deep wallets from the likes of the Sierra Club, and Patagonia Action Works and more. They file continual complaints and litigations to hit the pockets of Natural Resource businesses, while using a few ranchers as a disguise to tout their supposed mission, “Northern Plains mission is to organize Montanans to protect our water, land, air, and working landscapes. We support a healthy localized and sustainable economy in farm and ranch country and in our towns, and build strong grassroots leaders, always considering the next generation.” The slogan sounds so sweet, one can only imagine the kind of villain that would oppose it. It’s a sales gimmick, it disguises a warfare.
This coalition accused the mine of violating various safety and environmental rules, and harassing local ranchers. This made great news fodder, yet, the response of Signal Peak was never given the opportunity to reach the same public eyeballs as the accusations. In response by Holland & Hart, lawyers for SPE; “Since the 2013 approval of the mine expansion, MEIC (Montana Environmental Information Center) has pursued a steady stream of Federal, State of Montana, and administrative litigation in a decade-long effort to close the Bull Mountains Mine. Time and again, regulators and courts have rejected MEIC’s claims as factually and legally meritless.” Meaning, the mine has been targeted by environmental entity MEIC for years, and the claims they make have been continually found baseless by fact and law. Further in response Holland & Hart point out; “On June 16, 2022, the Montana Board of Environmental Review issued a decision concluding a years-long administrative challenge to Signal Peak’s mine permit brought by MEIC. The Board rejected MEIC’s factual and legal claims it their entirety, including claims challenging the mine’s water monitoring and spring impact assessment protocols. Having lost before the Board, MEIC petitioned the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation & Enforcement (at the Department of the Interior), the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office on July 6, 2022 to reconsider the failed claims and cease operations at the mine. DEQ determined that the allegations contained in the petition – apart from an administrative housekeeping issue – were without merit. As provided in DEQ’s September 2, 2022 response to the petition, “SPE does not have any current outstanding issues at this time.” It would appear that the point for MEIC isn’t to worry about actual facts, but just to keep the lawsuits and accusations public and ongoing.
Local rancher, Steve Charter, part of Bull Mountain Land Alliance, (see the above connections), claims that “in 2020, mine workers used an excavator to tear up a watering hole that provided water for his cattle. He says Signal Peak is also using aggressive tactics to push his family off leases and deeds that they have held for more than half a century.” In response, Holland & Hart write; “Mr. Charter’s claims are simply untrue. Mr. Charter breached the terms of his lease with Signal Peak when he impounded water on Signal Peak’s property without the company’s authorization. Mr. Charter constructed this “watering hole” using old tires and black plastic in a manner that posed a significant risk to Signal Peak employees and the environment. Signal Peak communicated its concerns to Mr. Charter and repeatedly informed him over a twoyear period that a properly engineered and constructed pond would be permissible. However, Mr. Charter did not respond, leaving Signal Peak no alternative but to mitigate this risk and remove this impoundment in 2018. With regard to Mr. Charter’s grazing activities, Signal Peak owns the majority of the property on which this grazing occurs. In the lease with Mr. Charter, which terminates in 7 years, Signal Peak expressly reserved the right to use any portion of this property as necessary or convenient for its operations. This reservation was a significant and necessary precondition for Signal Peak to lease the lands to Mr. Charter, and, as such, Mr. Charter’s grazing rights have always been (and remain) subject to this condition. Although Signal Peak notified Mr. Charter that the mine’s operations necessitated exercising its right to use the property, Signal Peak informed Mr. Charter that it was willing to discuss the extent and time period in which he might continue to utilize certain portions of this property. With regard to the property owned by the Charter Ranch, the Charters have offered to sell the property (and Signal Peak has offered to buy the property); however, the parties have not yet agreed upon the price.”
Considering the generous lease, he has enjoyed, to then make complaints and demands on property that is not deeded to him, one cannot help but wonder if he isn’t being maneuvered somewhat like a pawn by the group, he has joined himself to. As land rights go, if you don’t own it, you don’t have any of the “rights”.
In touring the mine, I watched every aspect of the process. The process of “washing” the coal is the area where the water may become non-potable. From my perspective of the tour, the wash refuse pond was smaller than the sewage pond East of Roundup. To better understand how underground mining affects surface water, here is my analogy; If you had large bubble wrap in the bottom of a rubber tote, then put water on top, then started popping bubbles, you would get an idea of how the water table is affected by underground mining. The water does NOT go away, but re-levels itself, which can affect surface wells. It is required that SPE replenish surface water that is affected from the underground mining.
This may help to understand the response to the next accusation from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, who deemed that one spring on Steve Charter’s land, was damaged by the mine, and the mine was ordered to haul water for his cattle. The following is Holland & Hart’s response; “As a threshold matter, the mine permit anticipates impacts to springs and ponds resulting from undermining and associated subsidence. Spring and pond impacts are mitigated pursuant to the permit’s spring impact detection and mitigation protocols. DEQ approved the mine’s current spring impact detection and mitigation protocols in 2013. With that understanding, Mr. Charter informed Signal Peak in April 2021 that the solar well that supports a stock pond showed diminished flow. Signal Peak immediately responded to Mr. Charter and provided replacement water on site. DEQ inspected the site and required additional analysis from Signal Peak. On July 27, 2020, DEQ issued written findings concluding that mining was responsible for no more than 8% of the drawdown in the aquifer supplying the well (with the other 92% attributable to Mr. Charter’s continuous pumping of the well). DEQ nevertheless ordered Signal Peak to provide Mr. Charter with 100% of the water replacement (which Signal Peak has done). DEQ incorporated the replacement water plan into Signal Peak’s permit, and Signal Peak continues to supply Charter with replacement water pursuant to the terms of the modified permit. During this process, Mr. Charter communicated to DEQ that he was satisfied with the water replacement efforts (“Mr. Charter stated he was satisfied with the progress on the temporary water source”). In 2022, the Montana Board of Environmental found Signal Peak in compliance with the permit’s water monitoring and spring impact assessment protocols.” If a lessee runs water from a leased well to every pasture and tank, the water level is likely to be affected, that is not due to mining. Most people understand that if you run too many water lines, you will lose pressure and eventually have a dry well. Parker and Curtis said Signal Peak STILL went forth to correct this in good faith, and try to make peace with Steve Charter, even though it appears that the water loss was caused almost completely by Steve’s aggressive water use.
In Part two, More about the distance between public perception and reality.
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