Franconia Minerals (Us) LLC v. United States
| Decision Date | 21 February 2017 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 16-cv-3042 (SRN/LIB) |
| Parties | Franconia Minerals (US) LLC, et al., Plaintiffs, v. United States of America, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Minnesota |
Daniel S. Volchok, Paul R.Q. Wolfson, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, 1875 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia 20006, Michael J.P. Hazel, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, 1225 Seventeenth Street, Suite 2600, Denver, Colorado 80202, Mark R. Kaster, and Steven J. Wells, Dorsey & Whitney LLP, 50 South Sixth Street, Suite 1500, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55402, for Plaintiffs.
Clare Boronow, Marissa Piropato, Sean C. Duffy, U.S. Department of Justice-Environment and Natural Resources Division, 601 D Street Northwest, Washington, District of Columbia 20004, Stuart C. Gillespie, U.S. Department of Justice-Environmental and Natural Resources Division, 999 Eighteenth Street South Terrace, Suite 370, Denver, Colorado 80202, and David W. Fuller, United States Attorney's Office, 300 South Fourth Street, Suite 600, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415, for Defendants.
James A. Tucker, Joseph R. Palmore, Joseph A. Ward, Morrison & Foerster LLP, 2000 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest, Suite 6000, Washington, District of Columbia 20006, Amy S. Conners, Thomas B. Heffelfinger, Best & Flanagan LLP, 60 South Sixth Street, Suite 2700, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, and Stephen J. Snyder, Snyder & Brandt, P.A., 120 South Sixth Street, Suite 2550, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402, for Movant Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness.
This matter is before the Court on the motion of Movant Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness ("NMW") to intervene as a defendant. (See Mot. to Intervene [Doc. No. 25].) NMW contends that it is entitled to intervene as a matter of right pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a)(2). Alternatively, it asks the Court to permit it to intervene under Rule 24(b)(1)(B), which governs permissive intervention. Because the Court concludes that intervention is warranted pursuant to Rule 24(b)(1)(B), NMW's motion is granted.
Plaintiff Twin Metals Minnesota LLC ("Twin Metals") is a privately owned mining company headquartered in Minnesota that focuses on developing and operating mining projects in northeastern Minnesota. A ( ) at ¶ 14.) Franconia Minerals (US) LLC ("Franconia"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Twin Metals, engages in the discovery and development of base metals and platinum-group metals in the United States. (Id. at ¶ 14.) Franconia is "the owner by assignment of any and all rights, titles, and interests" in the two federal hardrock mineral leases that form the basis of this action. (Id.)
Movant NMW is a non-profit corporation based in Ely, Minnesota. .) It was formed in 1996 and today has approximately 5,300 members and 93,000 additional supporters. (Id. at ¶¶ 2, 6.) NMW describes its mission as "to protect and preserve wilderness and wild places in Minnesota's Arrowhead region, to advocate for the protection of the Boundary Waters [Canoe Area Wilderness] and Voyageurs National Park and the enhancement of their wilderness aspect,and to foster education about the value of wilderness and wild places." (Movant's Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Intervene [Doc. No. 27] ("Movant's Mem.") at 3 (citing Heffelfinger Decl., Ex. B ("Piragis Decl.") at ¶ 2).) "NMW's members rely on, appreciate, and benefit from the natural resources in the Superior National Forest, especially the waters, lands, plant communities and wildlife in the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park, and have had a long-standing interest in lynx, moose, wolf, and forest conservation, both in the Boundary Waters and across the Superior National Forest." (Id.)
Defendants include the United States, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Secretary of the Interior, the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, the Secretary of Agriculture, the Forest Service, the Chief of the Forest Service, and the Bureau of Land Management ("BLM"). All individual defendants are sued in their official capacities. (Suppl. Compl. at ¶¶ 18, 19, 22, 24.) Defendants have filed no briefing on this matter and do not oppose intervention. (See Hr'g Tr. [Doc. No. 68] at 23:24-24:1.)
The present action stems from BLM's decision to reject Plaintiffs' application to renew two mining leases on land located in the Superior National Forest. (See Suppl. Compl. at ¶¶ 1, 2, 11.) Plaintiffs' predecessor-in-interest first acquired the leases in 1966, after lengthy negotiation with BLM. (See id. at ¶¶ 58-63.) The initial lease term was for twenty years, with an option to renew for ten year intervals thereafter. (See id. at ¶ 65.) Of central importance to the case, Plaintiffs contend that the option to renew was invested in the lessee and was essentially non-discretionary on the part of BLM. (See id. at ¶¶ 4, 67, 72.) Pursuant to the renewal option, Plaintiffs' predecessors-in-interest successfullyrenewed the lease in 1989 and in 2004. (See id. at ¶¶ 70, 78, 82.) In 2012, however, when Franconia applied for a third lease renewal, things did not go as smoothly. According to Plaintiffs, various environmental organizations—presumably including NMW—"put intense pressure on officials at the Department of the Interior, BLM, and the Forest Service to deny the renewal application, arguing that BLM had the authority to do so." (Id. at ¶ 88.) Whether as a result of that pressure or for another reason, BLM asked defendant Hilary Tompkins, the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, for an opinion as to whether it had the discretion to deny Franconia's application for renewal. (Id. at ¶ 89.) On March 8, 2016, Tompkins issued her opinion—which is binding on BLM—concluding that Franconia did not have a non-discretionary right to renewal, and that BLM could grant or deny the application at its discretion. (Id. at ¶ 90.)
Based on the Solicitor's opinion, BLM announced its intention to consider Franconia's application as if it were an application for an initial lease. This process included asking the Forest Service whether it consented to renewal of the lease, and an environmental analysis pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act ("NEPA"). (Id. at ¶ 93.) On December 14, 2016, the Forest Service issued its decision declining to consent to renewal of the leases. (Id. at ¶ 101.) Based in part on that decision, as well as the Solicitor's opinion, BLM rejected Franconia's application to renew its leases the following day. (Id. at ¶¶ 104-106.)
In light of the above alleged facts, Plaintiffs' Complaint raises four counts against various Defendants. Count I, brought pursuant to the Quiet Title Act, 28 U.S.C. § 2409a, contends that Plaintiffs have a renewable leasehold interest in the mineral estates covered bythe two at-issue leases. (Id. at ¶ 110.) Plaintiffs contend that BLM's lease denial, along with the Solicitor's opinion, have created an actual and concrete controversy between the parties regarding their respective interests in the estate, and, accordingly, Plaintiffs seek an adjudication of that dispute and a declaration of their leasehold interest. (Id. at ¶ 114.) Counts II through IV allege variously that the Solicitor's opinion, the Forest Service's denial of consent to renewal of the leases, and the BLM's decision to deny renewal, are arbitrary, capricious, or not in accordance with law, in violation of the Administrative Procedure Act ("APA"). (Id. at ¶¶ 115-131.) Plaintiffs accordingly request that the opinion—and the denials based upon it—be set aside. (Id.)
NMW filed the present motion to intervene on November 21, 2016—slightly over two months after Plaintiffs commenced suit. In its motion papers and supporting declarations, NMW stresses the danger posed by mining and other activities—such as those proposed and undertaken by Plaintiffs—to its members' use and enjoyment of their property and the Boundary Waters, as well as to their livelihoods. (See Movant's Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Intervene at 5-13.) In particular, NMW notes that the "low buffering capacity of water and soil and the interconnection of lakes and streams make the Boundary Waters and Voyageurs National Park watershed particularly vulnerable to the impacts of sulfide-ore copper mining." (Id. at 6.) It alleges that sulfide-ore mining will cause acid mine runoff to leach into the watershed, causing permanent pollution that will likewise permanently damage the ecosystem. (Id. at 6-11.) In addition to these longer-term harms, NMW contends that its members are alreadysuffering concrete harm from Plaintiffs' actions. In particular, they cite to noise and other pollution resulting from ongoing exploratory drilling, and a drop in property values resulting from fears about possible mining activity. (See id. at 9-10; Hr'g Tr. at 15:14-16:25.) Because NMW argues that it has a cognizable interest in the subject matter of the litigation, will suffer clear and concrete harm if Plaintiffs' claims are granted, and because its interests are not adequately represented by the Defendants, it seeks to intervene—either as of right or pursuant to the Court's permission. (See Movant's Mem. in Supp. of Mot. to Intervene at 14-22.)
Rule 24 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure sets forth two bases upon which intervention may be sought. Under Rule 24(a), the court must permit a movant to intervene if (1) the movant is given an unconditional right to intervene by federal statute; or (2) the movant "claims an interest relating to the property or transaction that is the subject of the...
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