Group seeks to stall railroad that would open vast Montana coal reserves to mining

Group seeks to stall Mont. coal railroad

BILLINGS, Mont. — A conservation group has asked the federal Surface Transportation Board to reconsider its approval of a proposed $550 million railroad that would open new areas of Montana’s Powder River Basin to coal mining.

The Northern Plains Resource Council said in its request Monday that the board’s 2007 approval of the Tongue River Railroad failed to take into account how burning coal contributes to climate change.

The group wants a new environmental study of the rail line. Its petition to reopen the case is the latest in a string of legal maneuverings by environmentalists seeking to stall Gov. Brian Schweitzer’s push for a major expansion of coal mining in the state.

“Things have changed substantially since the last time the board reviewed this,” Northern Plains attorney Patrick Parenteau said, referring to growing evidence that burning of fossil fuels is driving global temperatures higher.

If the request to the STB is denied, Parenteau said Northern Plains will take the issue to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

After being stalled for decades over legal challenges and financing troubles, the Tongue River Railroad has gained new momentum in recent months from increased market interest in Montana coal.

The state’s coal reserves are considered the largest in the United States yet remain relatively undeveloped.

Since November, mining industry giant Arch Coal Inc. has paid $159 million to amass leasing rights on 1.5 billions tons of coal in the remote Otter Creek tracts near Ashland. That includes tracts owned by the state and Great Northern Properties of Houston.

But Arch needs a new rail line to realize its plan to ship the coal to markets in the Midwest and overseas. Tongue River Railroad developer Mike Gustafson has been in discussions with Arch about serving a new mine, but no deals have been announced.

The 9th Circuit already is considering another challenge to the railroad from Northern Plains and one of its members, rancher Mark Fix. The group also is a plaintiff in one of two lawsuits challenging the state’s lease sale to Arch.

Gustafson said the various attempts to stop the planned expansion of Montana coal mining amounted to “a gaming of the system.”

“The question is, what other moves are left?” he asked. “At what point do we get off this merry-go-round?”