Appendix 1 



2003 Montana Legislature 



HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 43 



INTRODUCED BY WINDY BOY, BALLANTYNE, BECKER, BERGREN, BIXBY, BRANAE, BUZZAS, 

 CALLAHAN, CARNEY, P. CLARK, COONEY, CYR, DICKENSON, DOWELL, ELLINGSON, ELLIOTT, 

 FACEY, FRANKLIN, CALLUS, GALVIN-HALCRO, GIBSON, GOLIE, GUTSCHE, HAINES, HANSEN, 

 HARRIS, HEDGES, JACOBSON, JAYNE, JUNEAU, KITZENBERG, LAMBERT, LANGE, LENHART, 

 LINDEEN, MATTHEWS, MUSGROVE, NEWMAN, PARKER, RASER, SMALL-EASTMAN, TESTER, 

 TOOLE, WANZENRIED, WEISS 



A JOINT RESOLUTION OF THE SENATE AND THE HOUSE OF REPRESENT ATFVES OF THE STATE OF 

 MONTANA REQUESTING AN INTERIM STUDY OF THE SURFACE WATER AND GROUND WATER 

 IMPACTS OF THE ABANDONED ZORTMAN AND LANDUSKY MINE SITES ON THE MILK AND 

 MISSOURI RIVER WATERSHEDS AND THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE STATE RECLAMATION EFFORTS 

 AT THE ZORTMAN AND LANDUSKY MINE SITES IN PROTECTING THE WATERSHEDS; AND 

 REQUESTING THAT THE RESULTS OF THE STUDY BE REPORTED TO THE 59TH LEGISLATURE. 



WHEREAS, Pegasus Gold Corporation (Pegasus), through its subsidiary, Zortman Mining Incorporated (ZMI) 

 and its predecessors, owned and operated the Zortman mine and the Landusky mine located in the Little Rocky 

 Mountains of Phillips County, Montana, from 1979 until ZMI entered Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 1998 and abandoned 

 the site; and 



WHEREAS, the State of Montana's Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) is presently directing the land 

 reclamation and water treatment activities and operating the water treatment plants at the mine sites; and 



WHEREAS, in 2002, the Bureau of Land Management and the DEQ prepared a joint supplemental environmental 

 impact statement to evaluate alternatives for the final reclamation of the Zortman and Landusky mine sites; and 



WHEREAS, the effectiveness and sufficiency of the current and proposed reclamation are not universally 

 acceptable, and the reclamation is admittedly underfunded; and 



WHEREAS, water discharges from the mine sites require treatment efforts, possibly into perpetuity; and 



WHEREAS, the Little Rocky Mountains are upland water recharge areas for several watersheds and tributaries 

 that supply the Milk River and the Missouri River; and 



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