House bill would allow State to transfer mines

Legislation passed by the State House of Representatives this month would make sweeping changes to the state law governing the transfer of a mining operating permit from one entity to another.

House Bill 717, introduced by John Fitzpatrick (R-Anaconda) and co-sponsored by Marta Bertoglio (R-Clancy), would empower the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEQ), in cases where a mining permit has been suspended, to take possession of the respective mine property by eminent domain, and then to transfer that property to a buyer.

Although the proposed law is general in scope and could be applied to a range of future mining situations involving suspended permits, the eminent domain provision could have special resonance in the long-running bankruptcy case of Montana Tunnels Mining Inc.