" There are so many ridiculous points made in the opinion piece of the April 6th Montana Standard that i do not know where to begin ranting. To begin with,unlike the author's of the piece, i did have a seat in the room when this process was taking place and i will make it clear up front that i never would have participated in the process of getting the damage money in the first place if i would have been told that it would be illegally spent on Butte municipal infra-structure as has been the case for too many years. i have also been sick to my stomach watching the money misspent on these Butte projects after sweating blood to help get the money in the first place.

Sadly, this article speculates where the authors should research. As was put forth to me when i was involved with this process, the money was meant by law to " Repair and/or Replace natural resources damaged -- period" AND that THE area of concern in the original lawsuit was Silver Bow Creek and not the aquifer in Butte. With my understanding of the law, you have to show that you have been damaged in some way before you can collect compensation under the law and in no way do the Butte water lines qualify. None, NONE, of the problem with the Butte water infrastructure has a thing to do with mining impacts but has everything to do with gross, negligent neglect in properly maintaining the system over a hundred years by the citizens of Butte themselves. Not one of the sources of Butte water, Moulton Reservoir, Basin Creek Reservoir, Big Hole River, Silver Lake; has been impacted in any way by mining activities. Not one drop of Butte water has ever been in question because of mining pollution. In fact, mining originally funded and installed an excellent water infra- structure which in turn was allowed to collapse by the ignorant operators and citizens in charge of it -- who now want some body else to fix it when they cry.

The aquifer in the Butte area has indeed been affected negatively as far as water use for human consumption is concerned by both man made and natural influences, HOWEVER, Butte has not relied on or even used this aquifer for its citizens since perhaps the earliest days of the settlement. In fact, at every turn, the Butte government has resisted fixing this aquifer and is at this moment working diligently to write off the water through a groundwater exclusion, an exclusion of questionable legal validity itself, rather than repair the aquifer. Thus, the citizens do not have use of their own water through administrative decree and actions of the same government now wanting money for damages which they have not incurred. Of course this means that water that could be used at low cost is not competing with the bloated, inefficient water supplied from the far flung sources listed above.

So please tell, me, how do Butte water lines qualify as resources that have been either damaged by mining activities or as a replacement for a lost resources when ALL the sources that Butte water come from places far away from mining impacts and always have, while the aquifer that is damaged is being administratively excluded from use. Also, in the case where the aquifer is damaged, the local citizens are fighting tooth and nail to NOT fix it. If so, how can they legally collect damages for something that is unused and thus constitutes zero loss?

The money for Silver Bow Creek damaged needs to go to repairing or replacing resources associated with that creek and not anything in Butte. The money is also for ALL of the citizens of Montana and not just the citizens of Butte, in fact it was the citizens from Butte who trashed the natural resources of the other citizens of Montana in the first place, thus deny them of their rights under the law. Seems to me that Butte ought to be sued for damages by the rest of Montana and not collecting damages from them -- for both this historic damage as well as the continuing menace they are through activities they refuse to correct. We trash the "cleaned up" Silver Bow Creek channel with our out of date sewage treatment plant, we grossly waste precious water because we feel we are entitled to do so just because we are " Butte" , we will surely call upon the whole state of Montana to repair the damage still being caused by mining here when the pit eventually closes while reaping all the benefits of it for ourselves while it is running. We have collected natural resource damage money already to the tune of well beyond klein geld for a "Greenway" and in over ten years no such Greenway exists and even the people of Butte do not have access to their own repaired natural resources. What benefit to the citizens of the state has the greenway money provided if they have no greenway? i say repair riparian damage done by cattle, at least we have something tangible for the cash.

Butte just received 20 million bucks no strings attached to use as they see fit for the damage to the Butte aquifer while not raising one finger to help get the money. They sat on the fence the whole time of the original Silver Bow Creek lawsuit; and, in fact, had their feet hanging over on the Arco side waiting to jump in their yard if the suit looked like it would go Arco's way. Of course when the state won the suit, Butte was the first one in line for a hand out, roughly elbowing their way past the deserving folks with their sad story and Sullen Son's of St Patrick tears flowing profusely. Please.

It is time that the money for Natural resource damage begins going to those natural resource issues and anywhere in Montana that is in such need of natural resource damage repair and replacement. Quite obviously, if Butte has legitimate places that meet that need they should be considered first, if they do not have places that meet those definitions, they should not get a dime; and i will go further in saying that every cent that has been spent on Butte water lines should be paid back. Anaconda, Deer Lodge, Opportunity, Warm Springs and all residents on down the creek to Missoula should be given all the money from the pot that they ask for if there are projects that repair or replace natural resources. These people of Montana have sucked on our tailpipe for a hundred and more years, getting stuck with our wastes, having us steal their water, generally being run right over by the mining industry while the people of Butte got the rewards and poured all of their waste down the drain, trashed their own aquifer, and allowed their beautiful water system to collapse while they blew their money on wine, women, and song -- and continue to do so. The governor gave us our twenty million for wine women and song, its time that the natural resource damage funding goes where it belongs and goes to all the citizens of Montana and not just the Butte crowd and their incredible view of how they have been damaged by mining. Maybe they can go talk it over with the people of opportunity at a picnic in Deer Lodge's arsenic park. I think that i will send this note to the citizens of Billings, Great Falls, Bozeman, Miles City, Whitehall, Wibaux and so on and ask who gives them money to keep up their city water lines that also have absolutely no negative impacts from mining activities. "