Waterkeeper Litigation Update 2018

Citizens are one of a nation’s greatest resources for enforcing environmental laws and regulations. We know the country’s land, natural attributes, and values more intimately than government ever will.   A bird-watcher walking in the woods sees chemical waste flowing through a…

The Proposed ‘Madison Food Park’ Slaughterhouse

Did you know the largest industrial-scale slaughterhouse in the Pacific Northwest is proposed for just south of Great Falls? WHO:  In late summer 2017 the Cascade County Planning Division received a Special Use Permit application to allow Madison Food Park, LLC to operate a…

Scoping Comments on Proposed Black Butte Mine

DEQ has begun the process of drafting an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Black Butte Copper Project. We recently submitted comments regarding scoping (the initial process of determining what issues should be studied in the EIS). The scoping process gives the…

U.S. Legislative Update (On All Things Water)

It’s tough staying on top of what’s happening in Washington D.C., let alone know what proposed Congressional bills mean for waterways and Montana. For this reason we’ve compiled a Fall 2017 Legislative Update on all things water. Take a look…

Smith River Mine Updates & Public Hearings

This summer 2017, the Montana DEQ determined that the proposed Black Butte Copper Project, AKA the proposed Smith Mine outside White Sulphur Springs, has submitted a “technically complete” application and therefore it was starting the environmental review process. Determining that…

Fighting Attempts to Weaken the Clean Water Rule

New EPA and Army Corps’ attempts to revoke Clean Water Act protections from waters is an illegal effort that unnecessarily risks drinking water, public health, and river health. Yesterday, Upper Missouri Waterkeeper joined more than one-hundred clean water organizations in submitting two…

Big Sky Water – Bozeman Public Mtg 9/18 + Talking Points

Join us next Monday Sept. 18th 2017 at 6pm in the Bozeman Public Library to learn more about the challenges and opportunities confronting clean water in Big Sky, MT. For the past 9 months Upper Missouri Waterkeeper has been an…

Informal Comments on SB 325 – More Polluter Exemptions

We’ve submitted comments to DEQ on its draft implementing rules for Senate Bill 325 including, notably, another “variance” rule that would exempt certain polluters from doing their part to reduce pollution to Montana waterways. The effect of SB 325’s variance rule…