Mine threatens Montana's good health

Montana is a very special unique place. Its gift to all of us is the place just being itself. The proposed Rock Creek Mine in the northwest corner of the state is threatening the state's good health. The negative impacts caused by this proposed mine would be horrible in every direction. It involves tearing into the side of the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness Area - an irreplaceable spectacular place. Weren't residents and visitors of this area promised it would never be touched by anything but our foot prints?

This special place is home for the very threatened grizzly bear. The big bear's population is below what it should be right now. The projected 200 percent increase in road traffic nonstop, 24 hours a day for 40 years, restricted to the narrow Clark Fork River Valley will quickly slaughter one of the most diversified wildlife populations in the lower 48 states.

The proposed mine's underground activities will stir up very toxic materials, which will drain underground into the badly mine-damaged Clark Fork River. The river is rated as one of the most polluted in the U.S. It has endured over one hundred years of direct dumping of toxic mine waste from the Butte and Anaconda mines. The proposed Rock Creek Mines calls for dumping four million gallons of toxic mine waste directly into the Clark Fork River daily for at least 40 years. This is in between two of the river's largest dams. A huge holding pond with the worst of worst toxic goop would be built directly above the river.

Is this where our country wishes to go? Our desire for minerals is now so great we are willing to sacrifice extremely special protected places for them? Are we willing to tear into the side of our Cabinet Mountain Wilderness area, disrupt a very fragile wildlife population, pollute everything downhill into the Clark Fork River? Wouldn't recycling unused jewelry be a much more mature, humane way to obtain desired minerals?

Tiffany's Jewelry Company's article in the Washington Post a while ago was super. The article implied that because of the terrible negative impacts the Rock Creek Mine would cause, they want nothing to do with its proceeds.

Our government has to stop acknowledging the very much-outdated mining law written over 130 years ago. It was applied back then to encourage westward expansion. "Back then" is surely not "Now".

Lon LaBelle

Noxon