State of Montana Newsroom
DEQ Issues Record of Decision and Written Findings on the Spring Creek Mine Expansion Project
HELENA—The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has issued its Record of Decision and rationale to allow for an additional 977 acres of new mining disturbance to recover approximately 72 million tons of coal at the Spring Creek Mine. Spring Creek Coal, LLC submitted a major revision application to DEQ in November of 2013 for a major revision to their surface mine permit (C1979012), known as the TR1 Project, at the Spring Creek Mine, an existing surface coal mine near Decker, Mont. The Spring Creek Mine is operated by the Navajo Transitional Energy Company, LLC (NTEC).
DEQ is responsible for administrating the Montana Strip and Underground Mine Reclamation Act (MSUMRA) and the implementing rules adopted under MSUMRA. The permitting decision before DEQ was to make a decision under its MSUMRA authority.
Today’s Record of Decision is a public notice identifying DEQ’s decision, the reasons for the decision and special conditions surrounding the decision and its implementation. The Record of Decision is based on information provided by Spring Creek Coal LLC in its application, the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS, 2019), the Final EIS (2020), the Written Findings (Part II) and the Cumulative Hydrologic Impact Assessment (CHIA). The CHIA includes an analysis of impacts on the hydrologic balance and an assessment of the Probable Hydrologic Consequences of the proposed project.
DEQ appreciates the public’s participation in the Spring Creek Mine TR1 EIS Project. The Record of Decision has been posted on DEQ's website at: http://deq.mt.gov/Public/eis