Engineering and Mining Journal - Whether the market is copper, gold, nickel, iron ore, lead/zinc, PGM, diamonds or other commodities, E&MJ takes the lead in projecting trends, following development and reporting on the most efficient operating pr
Page 40 of 83
CYANIDE REGULATIONS
no, the state did not owe a duty of care to the plaintiffs because none of the listed exceptions to the GIA either explicitly or implicitly waived sovereign immunity for the negligence of the Department of Public Health and Environment in issuing a point source discharge permit to Galactic Resources. Colorado had conceded that there was disaster, but it was immune, and the landowner should have brought suit against Galactic Resources, which unfortu- nately was bankrupt.
raised the ques-
tion of whether it was arbitrary and capri- cious for the U.S. Forest Service to issue an NMFS Biological Opinion (BO), stating that no adverse effects would occur to Chinook Salmon (a species listed under the ESA) as a result of the proposed cyanide mineral leaching operations at the Bear- track mine in Idaho. The court said it was arbitrary and capricious to issue to BO and ordered the USFS and NMFS to reconsider permits for the Beartrack mine project because of deficiencies in the BO. Everyone needs to be aware of this case in Idaho. The lawsuit said that when there was a chance that a mine using cyanide might threaten some endangered species,
a reviewing court will look quite carefully at whether the permitting agency and the U.S. FWS had complied with the letter and spirit of the ESA. In this case, the cyanide was thought to affect Chinook Salmon.
Treaties and Other Multinational Agreements How important are treaties and other multi- national agreements? Are they potential regulatory tools as well? The answer is yes. is a classic example.
Glamis Gold tried to use Section 11 of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) to ask for arbitration, saying investors had been harmed and that California had expropriated their invest- ments and denied them minimum stan- dards by imposing strict cyanide regula- tions on its mine in the state.
Glamis Gold was a Canadian company acting through its U.S. subsidiary.
It pro-
posed to construct the Glamis Imperial Project—an open-pit mine within the Quechan Tribe's sacred "spiritual path" across the Imperial Desert of California. In response to public and tribal protest, the California Mining Board adopted emer- gency regulations requiring operators to backfill all operations to "achieve the approximate original contours of the mined land prior to mining activities." In support of the board's emergency action, the California legislature enacted Senate Bill 22, which required complete backfilling and grading for mining operations within 1 mile of Native American sacred sites. This reclamation requirement rendered Glamis' Imperial mine project financially unfeasible. In 2003, Glamis Gold submitted
"Everyone needs to be aware of this case in Idaho. The lawsuit said that when there was a chance that a mine using cyanide might threaten some endangered species, a reviewing court will look quite carefully at whether the permitting agency and the U.S. FWS had complied with the letter and spirit of the ESA."
www.e-mj.com
FEBRUARY 2012 • E&MJ; 39
Glamis Gold v
Idaho Rivers United v Fisheries Service (1995)
. National Marine
. U.S.
