Montana
Hecla says 'bad actor' lawsuit dismissed, coalition vows to keep fighting mine • Daily Montanan
With the dismissal of a “bad actor” lawsuit following the retirement of former CEO Phillips Baker Jr., mining company Hecla said it is ramping up exploration in the Cabinet Mountains area south of Libby.
But a coalition of Indian tribes and environmental groups said it will keep fighting to enforce Montana laws that prevent “irresponsible mining” and leave Montanans to pick up the tab.
Hecla describes itself as the largest silver mining company in the country and as owning “a number of exploration and pre-development projects in world-class silver and gold mining districts throughout North America.”
It acquired the Montanore project near Libby in 2016.
The coalition of Indian tribes and environmental groups had sued the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in 2021 alleging the state agency wasn’t enforcing the state’s “bad actor” provision in relation to Baker. That law bars corporations with outstanding obligations from embarking on new projects without paying old cleanup costs.
The groups alleged the DEQ shouldn’t let Hecla move ahead with “bad actor” Baker at the helm. Baker was one of the former leaders of Pegasus Gold Incorporated, which filed for bankruptcy in 1998 and left behind more than $80 million in reclamation and water treatment obligations, the groups alleged.
In May 2024, however, Hecla announced Baker had retired after nearly 23 years of service and was also stepping down from the board. It said the Board of Directors appointed Catherine “Cassie” Boggs, its board chairperson, as interim president and CEO.
In a statement, Boggs thanked Baker for his “valued contributions” to the “silver industry overall” and said a search for a permanent leader would start. She said mining would continue.
“Hecla’s day-to-day mining operations will carry on unabated with the talented and dedicated staff we have at all our operations and at our headquarters,” Boggs said in a statement. “Senior management and I will continue to support and guide our operations and personnel throughout this leadership transition.”
Baker could not be reached late Monday afternoon through a message via LinkedIn about the circumstances under which he retired. His profile page said he left Hecla in May and is in a “career transition.”
Filed by Earthjustice, the lawsuit hinged on Baker’s leadership at Hecla, however. On July 11, the tribes and conservation groups filed a motion to voluntarily dismiss their claim, but said they would continue to work to prevent “irresponsible mining.”
Earthjustice represents the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, Fort Belknap Indian Community, Ksanka Elders Advisory Committee, Earthworks, Montana Environmental Information Center, Clark Fork Coalition, Rock Creek Alliance, Montana Conservation Voters, Montana Trout Unlimited, Save Our Cabinets, and Cabinet Resources Group in the “bad actor” litigation.
The coalition said Baker has “no continuing roles at Hecla, no continuing connections, and no continuing responsibilities.” The tribes and conservation groups also said Baker’s retirement would help ensure Montana’s environment is safeguarded “from the worst mining practices.”
“The Cabinet Mountains hold an important position in the relationship between the Ksanka (Kootenai), Salish, and Qlispe people, and all of creation, with the Ksanka holding a particularly special connection to the area,” said Vernon Finley, director of the Kootenai Culture Committee and member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, in a statement.
“While this place is now safe from one bad actor, we stand firm in our resolve to protect our ancestral territory from mining that threatens our sacred places and landscapes. The lands, waters, and wildlife in the Cabinet Mountains are too precious to let our guard down.”
The groups had asked a Lewis and Clark County District judge to rule the DEQ had violated its enforcement obligations under the Metal Mine Reclamation Act and force the agency to enforce the “bad actor” provision against Hecla and Baker.
In their recent news release, the coalition said it had compelled DEQ to bring the initial enforcement action, but then brought its own after the DEQ “abruptly abandoned its enforcement effort.”
“Those of us who live or recreate in the Cabinet Mountains of northwestern Montana know how important it is to protect this special place from irresponsible mining executives,” said Mary Costello of the Rock Creek Alliance and Save Our Cabinets in a statement.
“We are relieved that Phillips Baker is no longer at the helm of Hecla Mining Company, but regret that Montana DEQ reversed direction and chose not to enforce the Bad Actor law.
“Regardless of what mining company or mining executive arrives next on the scene to push through an ill-conceived mining scheme, we will be ready to protect the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness and our clean water.”
The coalition said DEQ filed a “bad actor” enforcement action against Hecla and Baker in 2018, and a district court ruled that DEQ had jurisdiction. However, it said “DEQ announced it was dropping the case, citing the election of a new governor,” among other reasons; the Daily Montanan previously reported DEQ argued the case would take too much “time and money” to pursue.
In an email Monday, a spokesperson for the DEQ said the agency had no comment.
Last week, Hecla announced the Lewis and Clark County District Court had dismissed the lawsuit, as the coalition requested. It said the groups had wanted DEQ to deny exploration and mining permits to Hecla’s subsidiaries.
“With Mr. Baker’s recent retirement from the Company, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit,” Hecla said.
However, Hecla said the groups had made “bad actor” allegations “not based on (Baker’s) roles with Hecla, but because of his prior leadership positions” and defaults at Zortman-Landusky, Basin Creek and Beal Mountain mines.
“With the dismissal of the ‘bad actor’ lawsuit, the company is focused on advancing permitting of the Libby Exploration Project, a silver-copper project located 23 miles south of Libby, Lincoln County, Montana, (about 50 miles north of the company’s Lucky Friday Mine in Idaho),” Hecla said.
The news release from Hecla also said it owns other patented mining claims and “numerous unpatented mining claims at the project, and has submitted a plan for review to the U.S. Forest Service.
“The plan of operations, if approved, would allow for dewatering and rehabilitation of an existing 14,000’ adit (mine entrance), completion of 10,500’ of new underground development, and the commencement of exploration activities at the project,” Hecla said.
But the groups that filed the lawsuit said they will continue their work to protect “some of Montana’s most iconic species in the Cabinet Mountains,” including grizzly bears, wolverines, and bull trout, which the proposed Montanore Mine “gravely threatens.”
“Now that Phillips Baker is no longer at the helm of Hecla, Montanans can breathe just a bit easier knowing that a bad actor is not attempting to open another mine in Montana,” said Derf Johnson, deputy director of the Montana Environmental Information Center, in a statement.
“However, even without Baker, Hecla still intends to open a dangerous mine in Cabinet Mountains Wilderness, and we are not going to give up in assuring that the mine never proceeds.”
A group of legal and civil rights organizations late Friday sued U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement over conditions at Camp East Montana in El Paso, the country’s largest immigration detention facility.
“Camp East Montana is nothing short of a civil rights catastrophe,” Kyle Virgien, senior staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s National Prison Project, said in a statement. “We’re suing to ensure that no other human being has to endure the inhumane treatment that the Trump administration has inflicted on our clients.”
The Texas Tribune has reached out to the Department of Homeland Security for comment.
Filed by the ACLU of Texas, the ACLU, the Texas Civil Rights Project and law firm Farella Braun + Martel, the federal lawsuit comes less than a year after the opening of the sprawling tent camp.
In that time, the facility has seen at least three detainee deaths, a measles outbreak and nearly 50 detention standards violations as reported by ICE’s own inspectors, prompting calls for the camp’s closure from immigrant advocates and Democratic lawmakers.
The civil rights groups behind the lawsuit also alleged in a December letter that detained immigrants were subject to medical neglect, physical and sexual abuse by officers, insufficient food and denial of meaningful access to attorneys. In March, ICE switched out the facility’s prime operator for a more experienced contractor, saying the agency would “work closely with them” to improve services, including higher standards of medical care. Still, in a subsequent letter to ICE dated May 22, the groups said the situation “continued to deteriorate” and outlined additional complaints such as hazardous dust exposure.
Friday’s lawsuit argues that conditions at the facility are “unconstitutional punishment” and violate detainees’ due process rights under the Fifth Amendment.
“These conditions are longstanding, pervasive, and well documented, and Defendants’ continued inaction in the face of known risks shows their deliberate indifference — not mere negligence — to detainees’ constitutional rights,” the lawsuit said.
The petition, filed on behalf of four detainees, is also seeking approval to proceed as a class action to cover all those who are currently or will be detained in Camp East Montana.
One of the plaintiffs is Gerald Akari Angye, a detained immigrant who called the conditions at the camp “inhumane and cruel.”
Prior to this lawsuit, the 35-year-old man had filed a petition in January seeking release from ICE detention. According to the filing, Angye was a high school teacher in Cameroon but fled after being kidnapped and tortured amid a separatist conflict. He sought asylum after crossing through a New Mexico port of entry in December 2024. An immigration judge later denied his application, and Angye appealed.
In a statement provided by the civil rights groups, Angye said he had been beaten at Camp East Montana and never thought he would face “such severely violent treatments” in the United States. He was also placed in solitary confinement for 15 days, according to the lawsuit.
“No one deserves such cruel treatment,” he said. “We are all humans and deserve to be treated like it.”
U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar said in a statement to the Tribune that she is grateful for the legal fight. A leading critic of Camp East Montana, the El Paso Democrat called the facility “a purgatory for human beings held there.” She also vowed to continue her oversight visits and demand for the tent camp’s permanent closure.
Camp East Montana, first opened in August 2025, is located on Fort Bliss U.S. Army base.
Expected to ultimately reach a 5,000-bed capacity, the camp had a daily average of more than 2,500 detainees as of April 2, according to the most recent public data from ICE. The facility has also held the largest number of detained immigrants thus far in fiscal year 2026, the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse at Syracuse University found.
“Camp East Montana is at the epicenter of the administration’s cruel deportation agenda,” Savannah Kumar, staff attorney at the ACLU of Texas, said in a statement.
Disclosure: ACLU Texas has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. Find a complete list of them here.
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BUTTE, Mont. — The Sentinel Spartans are the kings of Montana AA baseball.
In the inaugural season of AA baseball in the Treasure State, Sentinel took the title by winning three games in two days at the State AA Tournament, culminating with a 6-3 championship game victory over the Gallatin Raptors.
“It’s tough to find words right now,” said Sentinel head coach Brian Moser. “It was pretty emotional celebrating with the guys. Just really happy for them. What an opportunity. They took advantage of it. Very proud of them. Very appreciative of everything they’ve done for me and Sentinel High School and Sentinel baseball. It’s a great night to be a Spartan.”
Junior Stellan Ridley was stellar for Sentinel, with two triples, two runs scored, and two runs batted in. Kaden Thennis added two hits, two runs, and an RBI while also drawing a hit by pitch. Owen Dale had a hit and a run batted in.
“We have a great mentality,” said Ridley. “I’m so proud of these young guys. As a junior and the seniors, leading us to this and showing how discipline works. We faced some chirpy people, and we just stayed with our level of the game and we performed, as you can see. We won the State Tournament!”
Each win for Sentinel in the tournament came in vastly different fashion.
The Spartans earned a nine-inning victory in their quarterfinal against Butte on Thursday, then came back from a 6-0 deficit after 4.5 innings in their Friday semifinal matinee against the Glacier Wolfpack. But on Friday night, in a game that started at 10 p.m. and ended at 12:08 a.m., Sentinel took an early lead and never trailed enroute to a victory over a Raptors team that had lost just one game all season.
“I had never played a game that late. Going from the early game, it was good that we had that little gap, we got to recuperate and take a solid power nap and come back out here with a lot of energy. Because if we came out flat, there was no way. But we came out with a lot of energy, and we stuck it to them. I mean, that team was good,” said Ridley of their hot start in the title game.
“Baseball is a funny game. There’s a lot of ways to win, there’s a lot of ways to lose. Just happy for the guys for sticking to it and never giving up.” said Moser. “Honestly, it takes a couple of lucky bounces here and there in a State Tournament, and we got those and took advantage. Beat a really, really good Gallatin team tonight. Just extremely proud.”
Gallatin managed to tie the game at 3 apiece in the fifth inning before the Spartans scored one in the sixth and two in the seventh, allowing freshman pitcher Lucas Johansson to earn the win and the save on the mound.
“It’s a big deal. 3 runs are way more than 1. It takes a lot of what the offense can do away. So those were huge, huge runs,” said Moser.
Johansson picked up two of the three wins in the tournament for Sentinel, while fellow freshman Paxson Onstot had the victory in the triumph over Glacier.
“I’m not going to say that’s how we drew it up, but that hopefully gives them confidence to come back next year ready to go,” said Moser. “We’ll have a target on our backs, but that’s okay. A lot of youth, it’s fun.”
Keaton Elliott tossed the first 4.1 innings of the title game for Sentinel, allowing just two hits, three earned runs, and five walks while striking out two.
The title marked the end of a remarkable turnaround for a Spartans team that started the season with a record of 5-7 before winning 10 of their last 11.
“(We got) absolutely shamed by our entire school (at assembly). It sat with me this whole time and I hated that. I just had so much drive,” said Ridley. “What are they going to say now?”
Wyatt Ford pitched a complete game for Gallatin, allowing three earned runs, five hits and a hit by pitch while striking out 10 on 103 pitches.
Ford and Louis Musial had the Raptors only two hits on the night, a triple and double, respectively, while Harvey Kimmel had two runs batted in.
Sentinel ends their season with a record of 15-8, while Gallatin concluded their campaign at 18-2.
“I think Gallatin came in here a little cocky. One loss the whole season, thinking they were going to probably roll us,” said Ridley. “No. We showed them up. Their eyes got big, and they realized we’re not a team to mess with.”
HELENA, Mont. — Montana counties have accepted enough signatures for Seth Bodnar, running for U.S. Senate and Michael Eisenhauer, running in Montana’s 2nd Congressional District, to be on the November ballot, although counts are still unofficial.
County election officials are continuing to verify signatures submitted by Tuesday’s deadline as part of the candidate petition process.
The Montana Secretary of State’s Office has not yet verified, certified or accepted the petitions, according to the Secretary of State’s office.
Counties must submit candidate petitions to the Secretary of State’s office by June 1.
The Secretary of State’s office will then conduct its “statutory review to ensure the petitions meet the necessary legal requirements under law.”
The deadline for the November general election ballot to be certified is Thursday, Aug. 20. By then, all qualifying candidates and any potential ballot issues that qualify for the general election will be officially certified.
The following was out by the Montana Secretary of State’s Office:
The attached report is unofficial. It includes totals that the county election officials have processed and entered in the system. These totals do not represent what the Secretary of State’s Office has received, reviewed, tabulated, or certified. The certified totals may differ from what is reflected.
Seth Bodnar, U.S. Senate
- 13,327 required
- 18,772 accepted
- 7,812 rejected
Kimberly Persico, MT-01
- 6,742 required
- 563 accepted
- 156 rejected
Michael Eisenhauer, MT-02
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- 7,274 required
- 7,754 accepted
- 4,720 rejected
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