Billings, Mont. • Montana’s largest coal mine was indefinitely shuttered by its new owners from the Navajo Nation on Thursday, in a dispute over whether the 275-worker operation should be immune from future lawsuits over environmental regulations.
The Navajo Transitional Energy Company blamed state officials for the impasse over the Spring Creek Mine near Decker. The company alleged that state officials demanded the company fully waive any sovereign immunity it would have as a tribal entity before beginning operations.
Department of Environmental Quality spokeswoman Rebecca Harbage said state officials never sought a complete waiver. She wouldn't release further details citing ongoing negotiations with the company.