State officials denied a petition submitted by the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners that sought to ease selenium standards on Lake Koocanusa.

The petition failed to “provide sufficient evidence” to support raising the maximum amount of dissolved selenium allowed in the lake from 0.8 micrograms per liter to 1.5 micrograms per liter, according to a Sept. 2 decision issued by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

“It puts a handcuff on us,” said Lincoln County Commissioner Noel Duram of the stricter requirement. “It doesn’t put a handcuff on anybody else. I want the Department of Environmental Quality, I want the Enivronmental Protection Agency, and I want us collaboratively to be able to put the handcuffs on the right people, not on Lincoln County.”

Studies have traced ele

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