Published July 24, 2004 Rancher, group fight cyanide initiative HELENA - A Lincoln-area landowner and a Helena-based environmental group have asked the Montana Supreme Court to prevent a proposed citizen's initiative to overturn the state's ban on cyanide leach mining from appearing on the November ballot. Mark Gerlach, a ranch foreman near Greenough, and the Montana Environmental Information Center submitted a petition to the state's top court Friday stating that Initiative 147 is unconstitutional, invalid and should not appear on the ballot. I-147 asks voters to repeal an earlier citizen-passed law, Initiative 137, which outlawed the use of cyanide leach gold and silver mining. The technique involves extracting precious metals embedded in large amounts of rock by trickling cyanide over piles of crushed ore. In Montana , the method was used at the defunct Zortman-Landusky open pit mines in north-central Montana , although supporters say the technique can be used safely. So far, most of the money behind the I-147 campaign has come from the out-of-state mining company that sought to open a cyanide leach mine near Lincoln, Canyon Resources Corp., of Golden, Colo. It's not the cyanide leach part of I-147 that upsets Gerlach and MEIC, said their lawyer Terry Trieweiler, himself a former Montana Supreme Court justice. It's the little-known second half of the initiative that renders the whole package unconstitutional. That section would restore to companies or individuals the mineral rights they had the day I-137 passed in 1998. But the state constitution requires that proposed new laws contain only one subject. Otherwise, Trieweiler said, voters are cast into confusion. They may agree that cyanide leach mining should be legal, but disagree that companies should get their 1998 mineral rights magically restored. How would they vote? The section pertaining to mineral rights has other problems, too, he said. It appears to be written for the exclusive benefit of Canyon Resources. It is unconstitutional to pass laws that grant "special privileges" like that. Plus, the constitution bars passing laws that are retroactive - in this case, restoring leases valid in 1998. That same section of the constitution forbids laws impairing contract rights. And in this case, Trieweiler said, I-147, if passed, would force the state and others to re-enter into mineral rights contracts that have already expired with Canyon or any other entity that had rights covered by initiative. "They don't talk much about this part of the initiative," Trieweiler said. "You don't hear about it in any of their ads." The petition names Secretary of State Bob Brown and Attorney General Mike McGrath as defendants. Both officials must sign off on proposed initiatives to make sure they stand up to legal muster. In this case, Trieweiler said, both men were wrong. Finally, the petition asks the Supreme Court to forbid Brown from putting I-147 on the ballot. The petition was filed just before 5 p.m. Friday. Tammy Johnson, head of the I-147 ballot committee, could not be reached for comment. Brown could not be reached for comment by press time. McGrath, contacted at home, said he had not seen the petition and could not comment on it. |