The current reclamation bond on the Montana Tunnels Mine near Jefferson City is not sufficient and needs to be nearly doubled, the state Department of Environmental Quality says.
Now set at $19,783,826, the bond should be $34,886,739 to cover reclamation costs, an increase of $15,102,913, says a notice from the DEQ.
The increase is “lagely due to changes in fuel price, site management, and indirect costs,” says the notice.
Public comment, including comment from the mining company, is being accepted for a 30 day period from publication of the legal notice contained in this issue of the Monitor. The legal notice also explains how anyone who may be adversely affected by the DEQ’s final bond determination can get a hearing before the Board of Environmental Review.
The mine was early $5.4 million in arrears on taxes and interest a year ago when the company offered Jefferson County a plan for paying off those taxes. The agreement set a payment schedule that would have paid off the taxes by 2021. In exchange for making the first six payments on time, the company would have had $1.8 million in penalties and interest forgiven. No payments were ever made, however.
As a partial offset for the deliquencies, the county commission voted to accept ownership of a log building on Boulder’s Main Street, but that deal stalled when a title search revealed several existing liens on the building, the commission said.
