In a reversal, Montanaâs Department of Environmental Quality wonât press for âbad actorâ sanctions against Hecla Mining Co. executive Phillips Baker for leaving unfinished reclamation work on several past gold mines.
Under former Gov. Steve Bullockâs administration, DEQ had attempted to use Montanaâs Bad Actor law to prohibit Baker from working with Hecla to develop new copper and silver mines next to the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in Lincoln County.
Phillips S. Baker Jr.
J. CRAIG SWEAT
In the departmentâs brief to the court, DEQ attorney Sarah Clerget wrote that the election of Gov. Greg Gianforte and appointment of a new director of the agency prompted âa very careful look at the entire record of this case.â