Lewistown, Montana

Montana Family Fights Mine to Save Ranch

"Mining laws are not meant to protect citizens, they're meant to protect mining companies," said Stephanie Shammel, a fifth-generation Montana rancher, who speaks from personal experience. 

For 15 years, Shammel and her husband, Alan, have been battling Canyon Resources, Inc., owner of a large open-pit gold mine near their ranch.  Touted as "state-of-the-art" when it was permitted in 1989, the mine has severely polluted the water and depleted the creeks on which the Shammels and a half dozen other families depend.
 
"We're not opposed to mining," said Shammel.  "We just want them to do it right."  That's why the Shammels got involved before the federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM) approved the permit, writing letters to the company and the BLM expressing their concerns.

"They told us the mine would be safe, and we trusted them," recalled Shammel. 

But the Kendall Gold Mine turned out to be a major disappointment for the Shammels and their neighbors.  Like others of its kind in Montana, the mine has caused more water pollution than the company and the permitting agencies said it would.

At the Shammels' insistence, Canyon Resources tested the family's water in the mid-1990s.  The results showed that runoff from the mine had contaminated four stream drainages, including one on the Shammels' property, with a whole slew of toxic pollutants.  But instead of treating the water and returning it to the streams, the company collected it in artificial ponds where the water was evaporated and the metals were filtered out.  This resulted in downstream water shortages.  Eventually, the Shammels, who had always had enough surface water for their cattle, had to dig expensive new wells.

"Mining companies know local people will eventually get tired or run out of money to fight them," said Shammel.  "They think they can outlast us.  These big corporations come in and throw money around. They give money to the schools, give a thousand bucks to the Boy Scouts and support the honor roll and stuff like that.   Meanwhile, they're bankrupting us and other ranchers in the valley.  They divide the community."

The Shammels persisted. 

In 1998, they were instrumental in persuading their fellow Montanans to approve a ballot initiative banning open-pit cyanide leach mining statewide.  The success of the initiative has sparked interest in other western states, such as Colorado, where local communities are considering similar measures.

"We didn't want to see anyone else go through this," Shammel said.  "It's hard on communities and families. You have no say in what happens to you.  The state says it will take care of you, but it won't.  You're on your own.  No one will help you.  Your only option is to go to court," she explained.

In 2001, the Shammels and several other families sued Canyon Resources, seeking compensation for damage to their properties.  Neighboring ranchers filed separate lawsuits.

Meanwhile the company tried to sell its property and mineral rights while the lawsuits were pending.  In 2003, District Court Judge Wayne Phillips ruled that the company had to set aside money from the sale to pay for cleanup should the Shammels and other families get a favorable ruling, and accused Canyon Resources of playing a shell game to avoid paying damages.  The company appealed the decision to the Montana Supreme Court -- which ruled against the company in 2004.

The mine closed several years ago, but the water pollution has not stopped, and the $1.9 million bond Canyon Resources provided for cleanup isn't enough to fix the problem.  The State of Montana estimates that reclamation and long-term water treatment will cost at least $14.5 million.  The company has refused to cover the shortfall.  In 2003, state funds were used to develop a cleanup plan, but when it will ever be implemented is an open question.

Shammel said that her son wants to become a rancher, like his father and grandfather and great-grandfather before him.  "But it won't be the same for him," she said.  "Everything has changed for us.  Every day we struggle to live with pollution from the mine."