ARLEE — The Arlee-based non-profit corporation, Friends of the Jocko, has filed a complaint against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) over the "legal validity" of the approval process of a proposed asphalt plant and gravel pit in Arlee.
The DEQ approved the permit for Riverside Contracting's opencut mining permit for the Marvin Rehbein asphalt plant and gravel pit on April 3, 2023.
The 157.1 acres of land for the plant is located off US Highway 93 North on the east side of the intersection of White Coyote Road and near the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas.
The complaint against the DEQ was filed on June 2, 2023, according to a news release from the Friends of the Jocko. It says the soon-to-be asphalt plant and gravel pit will cause significant impacts to the environmental social and cultural values of the area.
The complaint also challenges the following:
- The DEQ's failure to perform certain constitutional duties related to the environment and public participation
- That the Environmental Assessment is inadequate and fails to meet Montana Environmental Policy Act's "hard look" standard
- The Environmental Assessment disregards the significance of the CSKT's historical and cultural uniqueness and living relationship with the land
- The Environmental Assessment fails to adequately analyze the significant impacts to air & water quality, impacts on wildlife & fish or adverse impacts to threatened and endangered wildlife species
The complaint also mentionsMontana’s Red Tape Relief Project. The nonprofit alleges the goal of this project “was to cut the public out of the process and alleviate the agency’s mandate and ability to protect citizen and Tribal rights and the environment.”
The nonprofit’s goal is to redirect the DEQ toward a more balanced and lawful approach resulting in the void of the Riverside Contracting permit.
“We expect that DEQ and other state agencies will continue to erode citizens' rights to a clean and healthful environment, public process, and individual dignity as they allow egregious industrial developments like this to move forward, unimpeded,” the release states.
The challenge was filed by Friends of the Jocko's attorneys, Ferguson & Coppes, of Missoula Montana, according to the release.
Read the full news release below:
Friends of the Jocko -- a Montana nonprofit corporation based in Arlee Montana -- filed a Complaint on June 2nd in Montana's 20th Judicial District Court for Lake County against the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). The Complaint challenges DEQ's issuance of its Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and approval of Riverside Contracting's Opencut Mining Permit #3415 for the Marvin Rehbein asphalt plant and gravel pit near Arlee. The Complaint challenges the legal validity of the Final EA issued on April 3rd and decision to approve the permit, on many grounds including: the DEQ's failure to perform certain constitutional duties related to the environment and public participation; that the EA is inadequate and fails to meet MEPA's "hard look" standard; the EA disregards the significance of the CSKT's historical and cultural uniqueness and living relationship with the land; the EA fails to adequately analyze the significant impacts to air & water quality, impacts on wildlife & fish or adverse impacts to threatened and endangered wildlife species; and social, governmental and cultural impacts. The Rehbein operation's permit was filed with the DEQ on April 4th, 2022 for a plan to mine one million cubic yards of gravel on 157 acres, and operate an asphalt plant. The permit allows for 24/7 operation of the industrial complex, and attaches no mitigations for the impacts of the gravel pit and asphalt plant. The location at the end of White Coyote Road, just over a mile north of Arlee, and a half mile east of the Garden of 1,000 Buddhas is an inappropriate location for a major industrial development. The operation imposes major and significant impacts to the environmental, social and cultural values of the area, including to the Flathead Reservation's Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT) and EWAM's Garden of 1,000 Buddhas. The challenge was filed by Friends of the Jocko's attorneys, Ferguson & Coppes, of Missoula MT. Friends of the Jocko is asking District Court for Declaratory Judgement arising from the agency's arbitrary and capricious process and decision, demanding that the DEQ void the permit. "This case revolves around the degradation of the DEQ's willingness to uphold citizens' rights to a clean and healthful environment, public process and individual dignity. From the outset of DEQ's handling of Riverside Contracting's permit, it was apparent that the agency had fallen victim to the Governor and Legislature's 'red tape' initiative. Which is to say that the goal was to cut the public out of the process and alleviate the agency’s mandate and ability to protect citizen and Tribal rights and the environment. Nothing is more emblematic of the current atmosphere in state government than the Legislature's attempts to put undue burdens on citizens seeking relief from illegal governmental activities than their recent (failed) attempt to exempt DEQ from MEPA. We expect that DEQ and other state agencies will continue to erode citizens' rights to a clean and healthful environment, public process and individual dignity as they allow egregious industrial developments like this to move forward, unimpeded. This lawsuit aims to redirect DEQ towards a more balanced and lawful approach that would come to a different decision regarding the Rehbein asphalt plant and gravel pit."
