Lawsuit Challenges Proposed Massive Gold Mine On Idaho’s South Fork Salmon River

Local and national conservation groups have sued the U.S. Forest Service to challenge its approval of the Stibnite Gold Project, an open-pit cyanide leach gold mine in Idaho’s Salmon River Mountains. The groups say the mine would jeopardize public health and clean water, harm threatened plants and animals, and permanently scar thousands of acres of public land in the headwaters of the South Fork Salmon River.

Perpetua Resources’ proposed mine site is 45 air miles east of McCall, Idaho, adjacent to the Frank Church–River of No Return Wilderness Area and within the homelands of the Nez Perce Tribe.

“The impacts to the South Fork Salmon River watershed, threatened fish and wildlife, public access, clean air, clean water and world-class recreation from the Stibnite Gold Project are simply unacceptable,” said John Robison, public lands and wildlife director for the Idaho Conservation League. “Given the recent layoffs at the Payette National Forest, we are concerned about the Forest Service’s ability to manage this high-risk project in addition to all their other responsibilities.”

The plan doubles the size of the existing disturbance to 3,265 acres — the equivalent of nearly 2,500 football fields — and entails excavating three massive open pits. It would create 280 million tons of waste rock and include constructing a 475-foot tall, 120-million-ton tailings storage facility — more than 1.5 times taller than the Statue of Liberty. One of the open pits would extend more than 720 feet beneath the riverbed of the East Fork South Fork Salmon River.

“Permitting this level of destruction not only threatens a culturally important area and cherished public lands, it fails to comply with the law,” said Bryan Hurlbutt, staff attorney at Advocates for the West. “By prioritizing mining and giving Perpetua Resources everything they asked for, the Forest Service violated its duties to protect fish and wildlife, and ensure clean water and air.”

Conservation groups and others submitted 130 objections to the Forest Service’s final decision highlighting significant flaws in the mine plan. The approved version fails to address water quality and public health concerns and fails to protect Idaho’s environment and communities from mining’s harms, the lawsuit contends. See the filing here: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/mining/pdfs/Stibnite-Gold-Project-complaint.pdf?_gl=1*1y4cvhc*_gcl_au*NTg1NzM1MzE5LjE3NDAwMDAwNTI

“Despite objections to the Forest Service’s environmental analysis and concerns voiced by hundreds of people about the Stibnite Gold Project due to its pollution and public health risks, especially to Valley County, the Forest Service has neglected to address those concerns,” said Mary Faurot Petterson, board member of Save the South Fork Salmon. “The agency is required by law to consider harms to the environment and reduce those harms.”

“The Stibnite Gold Project risks irreversible harm to one of the nation’s most cherished and ecologically important river ecosystems,” added Zack Waterman, northern Rockies conservation director for American Rivers. “Given the extraordinary scale and location of the proposed development, it’s unacceptable that the Final Environmental Impact Statement only considers the mine applicant’s proposed mine plan and a no-action alternative.”

The lawsuit also includes the Fish and Wildlife Service and National Marine Fisheries Service, saying the agencies violated the Endangered Species Act by failing to protect threatened Chinook salmon, steelhead, bull trout, wolverines and whitebark pine from the mine.

The South Fork Salmon River watershed is a cornerstone of efforts to restore the federally protected fish, says the lawsuit. According to the Forest Service, the South Fork Salmon River contains the “most important remaining habitat for summer Chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin.”

The project requires constructing an industrial ore-processing facility, burying pristine bull trout habitat beneath 100 million tons of toxic mine tailings, building miles of new access roads and electrical transmission lines through inventoried roadless areas and providing on-site housing and services for hundreds of workers.

Immediately downstream from the mine site, the South Fork Salmon River provides world-class recreational opportunities for whitewater paddlers and anglers whose access and experience would be diminished by the project.

“The mine plan would destroy critical habitat for Chinook salmon and bull trout and increase stream temperatures for up to 100 years from the removal of riparian shading,” said Nick Kunath, conservation director with Idaho Rivers United. “Perpetua Resources will leave the site in worse condition than how they found it.”

The project cannot begin until several additional steps are completed. This includes Forest Service approval of revisions to Perpetua’s operations plan, acceptance of reclamation cost estimates and review of financial assurances. Other federal and state permits have not yet been issued, and several of the draft permits do not sufficiently protect public health and the environment, say the groups.

The conservation groups are represented by Advocates for the West, Roger Flynn of the Western Mining Action Project, Julia Thrower of Mountain Top Law and the Center for Biological Diversity.

For more background see:

–CBB, Sept. 13, 2024, Forest Service Releases EIS For Massive Gold Mine At Headwaters Of Idaho’s Salmon River, Critical Habitat For Chinook Salmon, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/forest-service-releases-eis-for-massive-gold-mine-at-headwaters-of-idahos-salmon-river-critical-habitat-for-chinook-salmon/