Environmentalists in Montana are appealing a state court decision upholding a planned expansion of a coal mine in the state’s Bull Mountains that President Donald Trump has backed.
Three groups — the Bull Mountain Land Alliance, Northern Plains Resource Council and the Montana Environmental Information Center — appealed to the Montana Supreme Court on Monday.
Tom Baratta, a landowner with property next to the mine who is the former chair of the Bull Mountain Land Alliance, said the Montana Department of Environmental Quality “has done nothing but rubber stamp any request the mine has made even if it violates federal and state regulations.”
“DEQ has used questionable and faulty research to push through an ill-informed assessment allowing mining to continue to damage land and water,” Baratta said in a statement.
