A new lawsuit filed by several conservation groups charges that the Montana Department of Environmental Quality is making hundreds of changes to mining permits that could affect the health of residents and environment, but which are beyond public scrutiny. They said the department’s approach and the decisions violate the Montana Constitution.

In a lawsuit filed Tuesday in Lewis and Clark County District Court, Bull Mountain Land Alliance and the Northern Plains Resource Council both say that vague rules or, in some cases, no rules allow department officials to modify mining plans constantly without any public notice, input and scrutiny. If the court found that to be the case, it would not only violate the Montana Constitution’s provisions guaranteeing the right-to-know and right to partic

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