interest. The SEIS also predicted that the trust reserve was $11 million less than what 

 was needed to be invested in 2001 in order to fund long-term water treatment after 

 2017. 



A simple annuity calculation shows that a trust reserve valued in 2017 at $14.8 million 

 earning a 5% return would provide approximately $800,000 for 43 years or until the 

 year 2060. Of course the annual costs are not likely to remain at $800,000 and there 

 are no extra funds to pay for replacing the water treatment plants using whatever 

 technology may be available or necessary at the time. 



The 2003 Legislature in HB 2 authorized the sale of hard-rock mining reclamation 

 bonds, backed by metaliferrous mine tax revenue, up to the amount of $2.5 million 

 provided that Congress appropriates at least $10 million during the current biennium 

 for the purpose of providing a total of $12.5 million to fund the long-term water 

 treatment trust reserve for Zortman and Landusky. The federal Department of Interior 

 and Related Agencies appropriations bill (S. 1391) for 2004 included a request for 

 funds, but it was not accepted. In rejecting the request, the Committee on 

 Appropriations stated that "the Committee understands a proposal is being prepared 

 for FY 2005 to address the plan set forth in the Record of Decision for Reclamation. 

 The Committee continues to believe protecting water quality in the region should be a 

 top priority for the BLM budget request". There have been no federal appropriations 

 to date. 



s 



ummary 



A few specific water quality problems that originated with historic mining at Zortman 

 and Landusky are better now than they were before the Pegasus mines began 

 operating according to the DEQ." The historic discharges from several old mine adits 

 have been captured and are now being processed through water treatment plants that 

 were built at the insistence of the agencies. Since the Pegasus bankruptcy, 

 reclamation efforts funded by the DEQ, BLM, and EPA have removed the historic 

 tailings in Ruby Gulch and the tailings dams and sediments in King Creek. Waste rock 

 dump water discharges are now being captured and routed through one of the water 

 treatment plants. The poor quality waters still draining from the leach pads are being 

 captured and treated with some success. However, the scale of the disturbance from 

 the Pegasus operations and the acid-producing rock at the mines have created 

 reclamation and water treatment challenges that will continue for many years. 



26 



