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N.D. Public Service Commissioners limit issues for Coyote Creek Mining hearing; order adopted
Summary
The North Dakota Public Service Commission on a special meeting adopted an order narrowing tomorrow’s formal hearing on Coyote Creek Mining LLC permits to five issue areas, while one commissioner said petitioners have not provided sufficient detail for a fully informed hearing.
Commissioner Randy Christman moved that the commission “adopt the order on specifications of issues in Coyote Creek Mining LLC,” a motion seconded by Commissioner Julie Fedorchek; commissioners adopted the order by voice vote.
The order narrows the scope of a formal hearing scheduled for tomorrow to five topics raised in the petitioning party’s filings: reclamation practices, testing and sampling practices, reclamation success, a general review of the permit, and landowner concerns. Christman said the limitation is intended to prevent rehashing matters previously addressed unless new evidence is presented.
Commissioner Julie Fedorchek said the commission was disadvantaged going into the hearing by incomplete submissions. “We don’t have that going into this hearing tomorrow. We have general information, but that’s… so we’re going into a hearing without some of the very basic information that we need, in my opinion, to have a fair and productive hearing,” Fedorchek said. She noted staff had twice requested clearer factual and legal grounds, the injury complained of, and the specific relief sought.
Christman said a pre-hearing conference was held on December 11, and he reported that Coyote Creek objected to the petitioners’ raising issues outside the August 26 letter on notice grounds. He also cited timing requirements from the Office of Surface Mining that constrain scheduling and require a compressed process once a formal hearing request is filed.
The motion’s text, as recited at the meeting, referenced Coyote Creek Mining LLC permit identifiers and application case numbers as recorded in the meeting record. The commission approved the order by voice vote; the meeting record does not list individual roll-call votes or a numeric tally. The chair adjourned the special meeting immediately after the vote.
The next procedural step is the formal hearing scheduled for tomorrow, which commissioners said will proceed under the limited scope unless new evidence is presented that warrants broader consideration.
