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N. PLAINS RESOURCE v. FIDELITY EXPLORATION 4813 <br />John B. Arum and Steven H. Chestnut, Ziontz, Chestnut, Var- <br />nell, Berley & Slonim, Seattle, Washington, for amicus curiae <br />Northern Cheyenne Tribe. <br />Elizabeth A. Brennan, Rossbach Brennan, Missoula, Mon- <br />tana, for amicus curiae Tongue & Yellowstone Irrigation Dis- <br />trict. <br />Brenda Lindlief Hall, Reynolds, Mod & Sherwood, for <br />amicus curiae Tongue River Water Users' Association. <br />Michael S. Kakuk and Palmer Hoovestal, Hoovestal, Kakuk <br />& Fanning, Helena, Montana, for amicus curiae Western <br />Environmental Trade Association. <br />OPINION <br />GOULD, Circuit Judge: <br />Defendant - Appellee Fidelity Exploration & Development <br />Company ( "Fidelity ") extracts methane gas for commercial <br />sale from coal seams located deep underground in the Powder <br />River Basin, Montana. In the process of extracting coal bed <br />methane (CBM), Fidelity pumps groundwater to the surface <br />and discharges this water into the Tongue River. The water <br />discharged is "salty," contains several chemical constituents <br />identified as pollutants by Environmental Protection Agency <br />(EPA) regulations, has characteristics that may degrade soil, <br />and is unfit for irrigation. The Montana Department of Envi- <br />ronmental Quality (MDEQ) advised Fidelity that no permit <br />was required to discharge the coal bed methane groundwater <br />because Montana state law exempts unaltered groundwater <br />from state water quality requirements. Plaintiff - Appellant <br />Northern Plains Resource Council (NPRC) filed a citizen suit <br />under the federal Clean Water Act (CWA) in the District <br />Court for the District of Montana, alleging that Fidelity <br />