by Sophie Tsairis
A 2021 revision to Montana’s Opencut Mining Law has raised persistent concerns around community safety and the DEQ’s capacity to fulfill its regulatory duties effectively.
The Gateway Conservation Alliance, a Gallatin Gateway-based nonprofit created in July 2023 to address critical issues that threaten the area’s water quality, citizen health, traffic safety and wildlife, alleges that House Bill 599 enables arbitrary loopholes in the opencut mining permitting process.
Last week, the Alliance filed a lawsuit contesting the approval of TMC, Inc.’s opencut mining permit #3462 for a gravel pit, known as the Black Pit, in Gallatin County. The suit argues that the bill’s provisions render Montana’s Opencut Mining Law unconstitutional.
“The basis of the lawsuit is that HB 599 is unconstitutional and violates our rights as Montanans to a clean and healthful environment,” Tracie Gibbons, president of GCA, told Mountain Journal.
The permit includes 129.8 acres owned by the Black family and located at the mouth of Gallatin Canyon along the Gallatin River and Highway 191. According to the permit, TMC, Inc., which supplies sand and gravel to commercial, residential and agricultural customers across Montana, intends to operate the Black Pit through the year 2044.
Barry Houser, communications director at the Montana Contractors Association, which advocates for its members, including TMC, Inc., told Mountain Journal that MCA is just now learning about the complaint, and it will be a key topic at their board meeting this week.
In the filing, GCA annotated a statement from the DEQ suggesting the department recognizes the potential impact of the permit, commenting that important surface and groundwater resources are present, and the operation has the potential to violate water quality standards.
“The basis of the lawsuit is that HB 599 is unconstitutional and violates our rights as Montanans to a clean and healthful environment.”
– Tracie Gibbons, President, Gateway Conservation Alliance
Gibbons said the Alliance has been gathering data from the DEQ and has noted public comments from the department suggesting that the new law could compromise water quality and limit public participation in environmental assessments.
Madison McGeffers, DEQ’s public relations specialist, told Mountain Journal it is the department’s general policy not to comment on ongoing litigation.
The lawsuit highlights the Black Pit’s location within a wildlife-rich area, home to elk, bear, deer and mountain lions, among other wildlife, and its proximity to an aquifer and the Gallatin River. The 2021 Gallatin County Growth Policy identifies the site as having significant wildlife value.
“We are not against gravel pits,” Gibbons said. “Everyone needs gravel, the economy needs gravel, but we cannot allow a gravel pit 20-feet from a person’s property and in an area that directly impacts our community. There is also an abundance of wildlife here … [that] uses the area as a corridor.”
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