Noxious mine

To the editor,

Will you let them come in and ruin your home? The proposed Rock Creek Mine in Northwestern Montana would destroy the qualities that make where you live special. The proposal is to dump three to four million gallons of toxic mine waste daily directly into the already damaged Clark Fork River.

This would go on for 40 years between two of the river's largest dams. It involves tearing into the side of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness area, an area that is indescribably beautiful and certainly worth more left alone for everyone to enjoy rather than ruined forever by a few.

The already fragile grizzly population in this area should not be disturbed. The wolf also deserves its space and should be left alone.

The digging underground uphill from the river would stir up toxic materials with nowhere to go but directly downhill into the Clark Fork River. Idaho's jewel, Lake Pend Oreille, is not far downstream.

There would be a 200 percent increase in traffic, all restricted to the narrow Clark Fork River valley. This would consist of mostly big trucks, which would never stop 24 hours a day for at least 40 years. The noise from the mine itself would carry for a radius of 10 to 15 miles. The noise would carry more at night and in the winter.

Scrap our dated mining laws, written more than 130 years ago. Too much has changed for it still to be valid. The number one threat to one of of Montana's major waterways is the proposed Rock Creek Mine.

The horrible treatment by the Butte and Anaconda mines over 100 years of indiscriminate dumping of toxic mine waste directly into the river should have been enough abuse. Then, to top it off, rows of dams were built, which discouraged the dissipation of the mine waste still trapped behind them. The Milltown Dam, near Missoula, is a good example. People wish to tear it down, but the "toxic goop" built up behind it is preventing that from happening without prior cleanup.

Let's add up all the advantages to the proposed mine - hundreds of new transplants move in, turning surrounding communities into 24-hour mining camps; and bars fill up, highways are full of drinkers, we see DUIs by the truckloads. As the Troy mine proved, this could attract twice as many people as can be hired, adding to the drinking, crime and job shortage problem.

The EPA is talking big about supervising the cleanup of the upper part of the Clark Fork while giving the go-ahead to further damage the lower part. The proposed ill-fated project wouldn't help with our area's security—it would secure its doom.

Lon LaBelle

Noxon