A 20-year effort to protect land near Yellowstone National Park from mining was resolved recently, but Park County residents will experience the mine's lingering effects as cleanup begins.Wyoming's scenic Chief Joseph Highway will be the route for trucks hauling at least 48,700 tons of mine tailings during summer 2011.The contaminated waste must be removed from a defunct gold mine near Cooke City, Mont. — a site that ignited a firestorm of controversy in the 1990s after the mining company Noranda sought to mine gold just three miles outside of Yellowstone National Park.Thankfully, its mining plans were foiled, and today the beloved national park is protected from large-scale mining development.Unfortunately, thousands of tons of pollutants remain at the mine site near Cooke City and are at risk of seeping into Soda Butte Creek and eventually running into Yellowstone's waterways.A cleanup effort spearheaded by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality calls for trucks to haul tons of the harmful mine tailings over Wyoming's Chief Joseph Highway.As a public highway, the scenic route is open to commercial traffic — an unfortunate reality for motorists who will find themselves sharing the road with heavy trucks. Though Montana's cleanup plan has been in the works for years, officials in Park County apparently were unaware of the project and didn't realize that the highway would be the route for trucks hauling toxic mine tailings.With Wyoming responsible for maintaining the highway, it's unsettling that Wyoming Department of Transportation officials weren't informed of cleanup plans until after the project was sent out to bid.Given the history of dispute over the mining project and use of the highway, it's also disappointing that there wasn't an open line of communication between Montana officials and those in Park County.

A 20-year effort to protect land near Yellowstone National Park from mining was resolved recently, but Park County residents will experience the mine's lingering effects as cleanup begins.

Wyoming's scenic Chief Joseph Highway will be the route for trucks hauling at least 48,700 tons of mine tailings during summer 2011.

The contaminated waste must be removed from a defunct gold mine near Cooke City, Mont. — a site that ignited a firestorm of controversy in the 1990s after the mining company Noranda sought to mine gold just three miles outside of Yellowstone National Park.

Thankfully, its mining plans were foiled, and today the beloved national park is protected from large-scale mining development.

Unfortunately, thousands of tons of pollutants remain at the mine site near Cooke City and are at risk of seeping into Soda Butte Creek and eventually running into Yellowstone's waterways.

A cleanup effort spearheaded by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality calls for trucks to haul tons of the harmful mine tailings over Wyoming's Chief Joseph Highway.

As a public highway, the scenic route is open to commercial traffic — an unfortunate reality for motorists who will find themselves sharing the road with heavy trucks.

Though Montana's cleanup plan has been in the works for years, officials in Park County apparently were unaware of the project and didn't realize that the highway would be the route for trucks hauling toxic mine tailings.

With Wyoming responsible for maintaining the highway, it's unsettling that Wyoming Department of Transportation officials weren't informed of cleanup plans until after the project was sent out to bid.

Given the history of dispute over the mining project and use of the highway, it's also disappointing that there wasn't an open line of communication between Montana officials and those in Park County.