Tribes in the Mountain West reached resolutions in two long standing environmental disputes this week. The victories for the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and the Navajo Nation could signal a shift toward accountability for corporate polluters operating on tribal lands.
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to take up FMC Corp. v. Shoshone-Bannock Tribes , upholding a lower court ruling in the tribes' favor. The decision ended a more than 15-year-long legal battle between the Shoshone-Bannock and a chemical company that mined phosphate and manufactured fertilizer on their southeastern Idaho reservation from 1949 until the early 2000's.
FMC Corporation is now on the hook for close to 20 million dollars in unpaid permitting fees to the tribes for hazardous waste storage. The company will also be subject to tribal regulations in its management of the waste moving forward.