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Adamera Exploration Drilling Comments Needed

Adamera is an exploration company that seeks to develop mining prospects on Buckhorn Mountain near the Buckhorn Mine. They have acquired the mining claims from Kinross in the 9600 acres of public land surrounding the Buckhorn Mine, as well as information and data related to Kinross exploration efforts. Adamera has submitted Notices of Operations to the BLM Wenatchee Field office and to the Colville National Forest for exploration core drilling. Adamera seeks to conduct their exploration under rules that: a) allow exploratory drilling without a reclamation permit if less than one acre of area within eight acres is disturbed through exploration drilling and, b) related to a Categorical Exclusion for exploratory mining activities of less than one year.

OHA is very concerned that the exploration drilling proposed by Adamera, combined with the ongoing pollution generated by the Buckhorn Mine, would have significant environmental impacts. The companies should be required to collect baseline water quality data before engaging in potentially polluting exploration activities. They should also analyze the cumulative impacts associated with the proximity of the exploration to the polluted water at the Buckhorn Mine site, as well as impacts from multiple (Forest Service and BLM, so far) exploration projects as part of a more extensive environmental review. OHA encourages the state and federal agencies to coordinate on this issue, to engage in a full interagency environmental review process, and to require the mining companies to collect baseline data on the areas that they seek to explore. For more information including the scoping notice, map and plan of operations, see below. OHA encourages public participation in decisions involving the integrity, sustainability,and prosperity of our community and the environment.

Please submit comments to the U.S. Forest Service by September 5, 2022. Direct comments, questions, or concerns to Minerals Administrator, Anna Lowell, at anna.lowell@usda.gov or 509-684-7266.

Federal Judge Denies Crown Resources/Kinross Gold Motion to Dismiss Allegations in Clean Water Act Citizen Suit

For Immediate Release

October 8, 2020

Contact: Sarah Kliegman, co-Executive Director, Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA), 509-560-4429

Spokane, WA  – On October 5, 2020, Judge Rosanna Maloof Peterson (Federal District Court, Spokane) denied Crown/Kinross’ motion to dismiss allegations brought against them earlier this year by Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA) and Washington State in a Clean Water Act citizen suit.

OHA and the State have alleged over 2,600 violations against Crown/Kinross in the citizen suit because of contaminated water emanating from the Buckhorn Mine near Chesaw, WA and other issues. The companies moved to dismiss a fraction of the allegations against them by asserting that these violations are “wholly past.” They also moved to dismiss allegations brought by the State under the Washington Water Pollution Control Act.

Judge Peterson heard oral arguments via teleconference on September 24, 2020 and filed her ruling on October 5. In her decision, she agreed with OHA and the State’s arguments that, considering the pattern of consistent and egregious noncompliance exhibited by Crown/Kinross, it is too early and there is not enough evidence to dismiss violations as “wholly past.”

“OHA is glad that the court rejected Crown/Kinross’ motion to dismiss,” states Sarah Kliegman, co-Executive Director, OHA. “We look forward to moving forward with the case and stopping the continuous illegal discharge of pollution from the Buckhorn Mine that threatens the waters and ecosystems that make the Highlands so special.” 

The Buckhorn Mountain Mine is located in the rural, semi-arid part of north central Washington State where water is an especially precious resource. Farmers, ranchers, hunters, anglers, and retirees in the surrounding area depend on limited water resources for their livelihood and other activities.

Kelly Wood, appearing in court on behalf of the State, and Paul Kampmeier, appearing on behalf of OHA, argued under the rules that the allegations should stand because the claims were sufficiently stated and made in good faith. 

In her ruling, Judge Peterson affirmed that OHA and the State sufficiently stated their claims, that allegations were based on good-faith beliefs ‘formed after reasonabl[e] inquiry’ that are ‘well-grounded in fact,’ as required by the statute, and that the court has jurisdiction in the case. She also ruled that the Attorney General has the authority to bring the allegations under the Washington Water Pollution Control Act. 

Judge Peterson explained that while Crown/Kinross “challenge the ongoing nature of a certain subset of violations, namely trigger level exceedances and the dismantling of a water treatment plant at the Mine, [they] have yet to show that those wrongs, as well as the other violations alleged by [OHA and the State], have been completely eradicated at the Mine, so as to render the case moot at this juncture.”

OHA is a public interest organization in the Okanogan Highlands of north-central Washington State. OHA has been involved at the Buckhorn Mine through the environmental review and permitting processes, continually advocating for environmental protection of this region of Washington State.

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Okanogan Highlands Alliance and Washington State Attorney General File Clean Water Act Lawsuits

For immediate release:

Okanogan Highlands Alliance and Washington State Attorney General File Clean Water Act Lawsuits Against Mining Companies for Pollution from Mining Activities

Contact: Sarah Kliegman, Co-Executive director, 509-560-4429, sarah@okanoganhighlands.org

May 7, 2020
Spokane, WA – Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA) and the Washington State Attorney General’s Office have both filed lawsuits in U.S. District Court against Crown Resources Corporation and Kinross Gold U.S.A., Inc. for water pollution violations at the Buckhorn Mine located near Chesaw, WA in north-central Washington State. The suits are related to the consistent and ongoing discharges of pollutants at the site above the levels allowed by the company’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.

“Our community will not stand for the pollution of our waters,” states OHA’s co-Executive Director, Sarah Kliegman, PhD. “The mine has not taken sufficient actions to either investigate the fate of pollutants at the site or to clean up the pollution. This lawsuit is intended to impel the company to clean up their mess.”

Buckhorn Mountain with Field's Pond in the foreground
Buckhorn Mountain, with Field’s Pond and Nootka rose in the foreground

OHA filed a citizen suit under the Clean Water Act because of the consistent and ongoing violations at the Buckhorn Mine. OHA is represented by Paul Kampmeier of Kampmeier & Knutsen, PLLC. Kampmeier said, “Mine operators must be accountable for the pollution they create. They cannot be allowed to pollute state waters with impunity or to leave a legacy of water pollution after mining activities have ceased.”

OHA and the State’s filing allege that Crown/Kinross violated the Clean Water Act by failing to contain pollutants to the immediate mine area known as the capture zone and that the mine has been discharging more pollutants than permitted for the past five years. The lawsuits also contend that Crown/Kinross failed to submit reports required when certain pollutants have exceeded trigger levels as well as various plans and notifications required by the permit.

The Buckhorn Mine operated in the Okanogan Highlands of north-central Washington State from 2008-2017. There have been ongoing discharges of pollutants from the mine site since mining began. While the Washington State Department of Ecology has issued violations and penalties over the years, Crown/Kinross have not taken the actions necessary to contain their pollution within the capture zone.

The most recent NPDES permit that regulates the Buckhorn Mine was issued in 2014; it has been administratively extended, and is still in force. The permit requires that the water near the mine be returned to near-baseline conditions. These requirements have been upheld by the Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board, Ferry County Superior Court, and the Washington State Court of Appeals.

OHA is a public interest organization in the Okanogan Highlands of north-central Washington State. OHA has been involved at the Buckhorn Mine through the environmental review and permitting processes. OHA has analyzed the monitoring data since the mine was built in 2008, continually advocating for environmental protection.

Appeals Court Comes to Okanogan

On March 14, 2019, the Washington Court of Appeals Division III brought oral arguments in Crown vs Ecology to the Okanogan County Commissioners Hearing Room. The case, in which OHA is an intervener, began with Crown appealing the 2014 renewal of the discharge permit for the mine. After a seven-day trial-like hearing in January 2015, the Pollution Control Hearings Board, decided in favor of Ecology and OHA, affirming that the water surrounding the Buckhorn Mine must be left almost as clean as it was before mining. Crown appealed that decision to the Ferry County Superior Court where Crown also lost. Crown appealed to the Court of Appeal. Crown has asserted that the permit should be stayed (on hold) until the appeal process is exhausted. This assertion has been rejected in each stage of the appeal. While Ecology has issued Notices of Violation, the agency has not yet taken further enforcement action regarding the hundreds of violations.

Click here to listen to the recording of the arguments of this case, #351998.

Ferry County Court Upholds Buckhorn Gold Mine Discharge Permit

Buckhorn Mine must leave the water as clean as it was prior to mining
Crown/Kinross gold mine on Buckhorn Mountain (Google Earth image)

On February 22, 2017, Ferry County Superior Court Judge Pat Monasmith denied Crown Resources/Kinross’ appeal of the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) July 30, 2015 decision, upholding the NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit issued by Washington State Department of Ecology. This ruling affirms that the water surrounding the Buckhorn Mine must be left as clean as it was before the mine was developed. The Buckhorn Mine continues to discharge pollutants into the environment in violation of their waste discharge permit.

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Kinross Connection to Colorado Mine Disaster

Colorado is home to tens of thousands of abandoned mines. On August 5, 2015, people across the continent watched in disbelief as one of those mines, the Gold King, released over 3 million gallons of a mustard-colored concoction of heavy metals into the Animas River. 

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Ecology Takes Action to Stem Buckhorn Mine Water Pollution

Due to the extensive violations of the Buckhorn gold mine’s Clean Water Act permit, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology) issued an Administrative Order (AO) to Kinross Gold Corporation/Crown Resources Corporation (Crown/Kinross) on July 19, 2016. The AO requires an action plan to capture and treat contaminants emanating from the Buckhorn Mine.

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Review Board Affirms Buckhorn Gold Mine Discharge Permit

Water surrounding the Buckhorn Mine must be left as clean as it was prior to mining

On July 30, 2015, the Pollution Control Hearings Board (PCHB) denied Crown Resources/Kinross’ appeal of the NPDES (National Pollution Discharge Elimination System) permit, thereby affirming that the water surrounding the Buckhorn Mine must be left as clean as it was before the mine was developed. The Buckhorn Mine continues to discharge pollutants into the environment in violation of their waste discharge permit…

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