Tntroduction 



House Joint Resolution 43 



The preamble of HJR 43, enacted by the 2003 Montana Legislature, describes in 

 general terms the status of the reclamation efforts that have been conducted at the 

 Zortman and Landusky mines by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality 

 (DEQ) and the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) following the bankruptcy of 

 Pegasus Gold Corporation (Pegasus) and the abandonment of the mines by its 

 operator, Zortman Mining Incorporated (ZMI). HJR 43 asks an appropriate interim 

 committee to review how those efforts are addressing water quality issues at the 

 mines and whether additional reclamation efforts are necessary. The mines are being 

 reclaimed by the DEQ and its contractors with mine bond proceeds made available 

 following a settlement agreement with the sureties, with supplemental funds from 

 the bankruptcy settlement, and with state and federal funds. 



Specifically, HJR 43 asks the interim committee to: 



(1) identify the impacts on surface water and ground water, including the 

 recent degradation of Swift Gulch, attributable to past or present 

 activities at the mine sites; 



(2) determine if there are identifiable downstream impacts on the Milk and 

 Missouri River drainages attributable to past or present activities at the 

 mine sites; 



(3) determine whether the surface water and ground water resources in the 

 watersheds affected by the mine operations are being protected by the 

 current or proposed state reclamation; and 



(4) determine the potential impacts to surface water and ground water 

 resources if additional funding for water treatment and reclamation does 

 not become available. 



Response 



The Legislative Council assigned HJR 43 to the Environmental Quality Council (EQC), 

 and the EQC decided to combine a review of the issues in HJR 43 with a review of the 

 current status of metal mine bonding in Montana (see tAetal tAwe Bondins in Montana 

 ■ Status and Policy Considerations, Montana EQC staff report, Larry D. Mitchell, 

 October 2004). The EQC decided that both topics would be reported in separate staff 



