A state agency’s analysis of the methods for containing waste from a copper mine near White Sulphur Springs was adequate enough to issue a permit, and a District Court should not be allowed to substitute its judgment for that of the agency, attorneys told the Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Tintina Montana, Inc., the state Attorney General, Meagher and Broadwater counties are appealing to the state’s high court to reverse last year’s ruling that found DEQ erred in its scrutiny of the Black Butte Copper Project and issuing a permit.