Park County residents and officials are getting their opportunity to weigh in on a Montana mine clean up plan that involves hauling tens of thousands of tons of gold tailings over the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. Officials from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality will be in Cody on Tuesday, Nov. 16, to discuss their clean up plans for the McLaren Mine outside Cooke City, Mont.

The department's public meeting with the Park County Commission begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Grizzly Room of the Park County Library.

The bulk of the clean up for the McLaren site involves stabilizing and storing some 251,300 tons of toxic gold mine tailings in an on-site repository. But it's the other 68,700 tons of tailings — slated to be hauled to Montana for processing — that will likely dominate Tuesday night's discussion.

Those tons are slated to be transported down the Chief Joseph (Wyo. 296), up Wyo. 120 and into Montana, ultimately arriving in Whitehall, Mont. There, the tailings will be processed for their gold, which currently is selling at high prices.

Most of the 360-mile haul is along Interstate 90 in Montana, according to a news release from the department Wednesday.

Montana DEQ is contracting with Knife River Corporation for excavation and hauling of the tailings, and Barrick Gold Corporation, owners of the Golden Sunlight Mine near Whitehall, will process them, the release said.

Wyoming officials were not involved in the project's planning, though Wyoming Department of Transportation officials had the opportunity to weigh in on the hauling plan prior to a final contract being awarded last spring.

After becoming aware of the plan, the County Commission, local state legislators and area landowners along the Chief Joseph Highway voiced concern that the hauling will damage the scenic, mountainous highway and impact traffic speed and safety.

The consensus of the Park County Commission has been that all 320,000 tons of tailings should be stored on site.

Richard Opper, the director of the Montana DEQ, said putting all of the tailings into the repository will make it less stable and more susceptible to rupturing.

“Unfortunately, the volume of waste exceeds the capacity of the local repository,” he said in the news release Wednesday.

Opper has said he regrets not communicating with citizens and officials in Wyoming, or any other communities along the haul route, earlier in the process. Hauling is scheduled to run from June to September 2011, the releae said.

The McLaren mine site is currently leaking tailings into Soda Butte Creek, which feeds into Yellowstone National Park.

“This draft proposal is a significant step towards a cleaner, more healthful environment near one of the country's most beloved and beautiful parks,” said Opper in the release.

The intent of next week's meeting is to gather local input to incorporate into the hauling transportation plan, said Park County Commission Chairman Jill Shockley Siggins.