Tools

Land Board Endorses $86 million Coal Deal After Protest Shuts Down Meeting

By The Associated Press

Story Created: Mar 18, 2010 at 11:43 AM MST

Story Updated: Mar 18, 2010 at 11:43 AM MST

HELENA, Mont. - The Land Board is endorsing an $86 million coal deal with a mining giant at a meeting marred by protesters chanting "hands off Otter Creek."

The deal lets Arch Coal Inc. combine a half-billion tons of state-owned coal with 731 million tons of adjacent coal it has leased from a private company.

Gov. Brian Schweitzer says the money buoys the state budget and will help avoid budget cuts, while promising to bring in billions more in the coming decades. The board approved the deal in a 3-2 vote Thursday.

Five protesters with the advocacy group Northern Rockies Rising Tide shut down the meeting for about 45 minutes when they locked arms and sat on the floor. Police said they were taken to jail on an initial charge of disorderly conduct.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 1000 Characters Left

News, Sports, Weather for Great Falls, Helena, and all of Montana and its affiliated companies are not responsible for the content of comments posted or for anything arising out of use of the above comments or other interaction among the users. We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove or edit user-generated content at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so or to monitor any Public Forum.

Great Falls & Helena Weather

Icon
Great Falls Great Falls Intl Airport, MT
Current Temp 37.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Southwest at 10.4 MPH (9 KT)
Pressure : 1011.3 mb
Humidity : 62 %
Icon
Helena Helena Regional, MT
Current Temp 23.0 °F
Overcast
Wind : Calm
Pressure : 1015.6 mb
Humidity : 81 %
Click here for our video forecast
More Weather
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

AP Video