The group, protesting against the use of Montana Rail Link property for coal transport as well as the proposed Otter Creek coal operation near Ashland, began at Hill Park and ended with a sit-in along the tracks in Helena on Sunday.

Law enforcement officials told the Helena Independent Record that officials were waiting for the group when they reached their destination, and cited them for trespassing on Montana Rail Link property.

Some media reports have said 14 violations were issued, but the exact number has not yet been confirmed.

All are speaking out against air and water quality problems they say results from such projects and contributed to climate change.

Protester Nick Engelfried of the Blue Skies Campaign told the paper that it was important to organise acts of “civil disobedience”

“It really conveys the moral urgency of this issue of not only this coal being mined on polluted land in southeastern Montana and then the railroads, but also climate change and the global impacts,” he said.

The demonstration was not the first for the group. It led a sit-in last August at the capitol building under the same claims. Seven were arrested at that event.

There were no arrests made in connection with Sunday’s demonstration.

Those arrested were scheduled to appear September 16 in Helena Municipal Court. No outcomes of those hearings were available at press time.

Arch Coal submitted its permit for the surface Otter Creek Coal complex to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality in July 2012.

A University of Montana economic report released earlier this year estimated the mine could add $US200 ($A215) million in economic benefits annually to the state.