Hearings Next Week On Mine Proposal

Public hearings on Asarco Inc.’s Rock Creek Mine proposal are scheduled for next week in Idaho and Montana.

The proposed copper and silver mine would burrow under the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness about eight miles from Noxon, Mont. It’s designed to process 10,000 tons of ore per day for about 30 years, and could employ more than 350 workers.

Environmentalists are worried about the mine’s effects on fish, wildlife and water quality.

The first public hearing will be held in Missoula at 7 p.m., Feb. 10, in the Hellgate Middle School lunchroom. A second hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 11, at the Panida Theater in Sandpoint. A third hearing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Feb. 12 in the Noxon High School Multipurpose Room in Noxon, Mont.

All hearings will be preceded by an open house at 6 p.m. The deadline for public comment on the mine’s supplemental Environmental Impact Statement is March 11. The agencies holding the hearings are the Kootenai National Forest and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

, DataTimes