Tribes plan to sue over gold mines

HELENA - Tribal leaders on Fort Belknap Indian Reservation say neighboring gold mines have violated the federal Clean Water Act, and announced plans Tuesday to sue to force their cleanup.

The Assiniboine and Gros Ventre Tribes have been embroiled in a long-running dispute over the abandoned Zortman and Landusky gold mines south of Malta.

The tribes say the company that operated the open-pit gold mines did not have a large enough reclamation bond to ensure adequate cleanup of the mines. And they say its polluted water continues to drain from the mines in the Little Rocky Mountains, along the...