Tribes filed an appeal of the Record of Decision with the IBLA on several grounds, 

 including that failure to reclaim the sites in accordance with at least the selected 

 alternatives, Z6 and L4, would violate the BLM's obligation to protect the Tribes' 

 resources.^ In July 2002, the Fort Belknap Tribes and three citizens' groups also filed 

 suit in state District Court challenging the Record of Decision alleging that failure to 

 implement alternatives Z6 and L4 would violate the Montana Constitution and the 

 state Metal Mine Reclamation Act." Both actions are currently pending. Through 

 various cost-saving measures and the procurement of additional reclamation funds, 

 the DEQ has been able to implement most of the components of alternatives Z6 and 

 L4. 



I mpacts on Surface water and Ground Water 



HJR 43 asks the interim committee to identify the impacts on surface and ground 

 water, including the recent degradation of Swift Gulch, attributable to past or present 

 activities at the mine sites. A review of only a selection of the many documents 

 prepared on this subject cannot help but lead to the conclusion that there have been 

 impacts to both the surface water and ground water at the mine sites from both 

 historic and more recent mining activities. However, the current, future, and long- 

 term extent, severity, and effect of those impacts is more difficult to describe or 

 predict with any certainty. It is clear that in the absence of continued water capture 

 and treatment operations, there will be significant adverse impacts to surface and 

 ground water quality, at least in the vicinity of the mines. 



The 1993 and 1995 federal and state water quality complaints that resulted in the 

 Consent Decree also resulted in a $2 million fine against Pegasus for alleged unlav/ful 

 discharges to surface and ground waters. A review of agency files between 1977 and 

 1995 documented acid mine drainage from historic and contemporary mine workings, 

 multiple releases of cyanide to surface and ground water from leaks, spills, overflows, 

 and emergency cyanide solution disposals, and elevated metals in surface and ground 

 water samples in many areas of the Zortman and Landusky mines. ^ In a recent case in 

 which federal District Court Judge Donald Molloy declined to rule on whether the 

 federal government broke its trust obligations to the Fort Belknap Tribes in its 

 oversight of the mines, pending a decision by the IBLA in the Tribes' June 2002 appeal. 

 Judge Molloy stated, without citing specifics, that "It is undisputed that the Zortman- 

 Landusky mines have devastated portions of the Little Rockies, and will have effects 

 on the surrounding area, including the Fort Belknap Reservation for generations. That 



