By Tom Lutey, Billings Gazette
State and federal mine regulators ignored environmental requirements when approving a 70.8-million-ton expansion of Montana’s Rosebud mine, a federal judge has ruled.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Timothy Cavan recommended Friday that the U.S. Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement correct its violations of the National Environmental Policy Act within a year. Otherwise, approval of the Area F expansion at Rosebud mine would be revoked. The ruling comes from U.S. District Court in Billings. Judge Susan Watters must approve the recommendation for it to take hold.
