JOHN MILLER Associated Press writer | Posted: Friday, October 26, 2007 12:00 am
BOISE, Idaho - J.R. Simplot Co. won't try to invoke a 111-year-old provision of the Idaho Constitution to condemn private property in eastern Idaho for a new haul road needed to expand a phosphate mine, a company spokesman said Wednesday after federal agencies agreed to another route.
Even so, Peter Riede, owner of the 467-acre vacation property, fears the company still could try to take his land.
The road is just one front in the fight over Simplot's Smoky Canyon mine. Environmental groups including the Greater Yellowstone Coalition this week announced a possible federal lawsuit against the existing operation, contending it is illegally contaminating groundwater.
Last year, the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management had said a route over Riede's land was preferred because it was the most environmentally friendly option. After Riede refused Simplot's $2.1 million offer for his land, the agricultural conglomerate then suggested it could build the road by relying on an 1896 provision of the state constitution that allows mining outfits to condemn private property to reach their claims.
In an environmental analysis released Oct. 19, however, the Forest Service and BLM are now calling for a new road to be built on public land several miles from where Riede is planning his vacation getaway on a blue-ribbon trout stream.
"Currently, Simplot has not been able to obtain an easement across the private land," the agencies wrote in the environmental analysis. "Thus, construction … would not be possible at this time" on Riede's land.
Simplot, planning a 1,300-acre expansion of Smoky Canyon to secure more ore for its Pocatello fertilizer operations, always preferred a route that avoids a condemnation fight, said spokesman Rick Phillips.
"That was our original proposed transportation route," Phillips said. "There's no private property impacted."
Bureau of Land Management officials pledged not to approve a road through Riede's land unless he and Simplot reach an agreement.
Short of that, Simplot must use the other route, said BLM geologist Bill Stout.
"Unless they come up with an amiable deal, we're not going to approve it," said Stout, who worked on the analysis.
Despite the assurances, Riede still worries the company could go after his land, located 15 miles from Afton, Wyo.
"I don't think we're out of the woods, at all," he said. "I'm certain the company would still want to use that alternative."
On Tuesday, the Greater Yellowstone Coalition threatened to sue the Forest Service and Simplot within 60 days, alleging that dumping of waste rock at Smoky Canyon for decades has left the area's aquifer laden with selenium, an element that killed 500 horses and sheep starting in 1996 in eastern Idaho's phosphate mining area.
"The mine and the Forest Service are breaking the law by polluting the water of one of the most beautiful regions in America," said Lisa Evans, a lawyer for Earthjustice. "We intend to do something about it."
Phillips said no lawsuit had been filed, so he couldn't comment.
The BLM's Stout also declined to comment on possible litigation, but said federal agencies had never conspired with Simplot to ignore selenium dangers, as the environmental groups contend.
"We were surprised when we saw the horses get sick in the 1996-1997 era," Stout said, adding the agencies have moved aggressively since then to create mining plans like the environmental analysis published last week that guard against future selenium poisoning problems.
It could still be months or years before the mine expansion begins. Opponents have several weeks to appeal the environmental analysis. Company and federal officials also concede possible lawsuits in U.S. District Court could stall the process. Simplot says it has fewer than two years worth of ore left in its existing Smoky Canyon mine site and wants to begin the expansion quickly so it doesn't run out.