In central Idaho victory mine It produced silver, lead, and zinc from the late 1800s to the 1950s. But since operations ceased decades ago, the mine has become environmentally hazardous, with abandoned tunnels and tailings piles leaching arsenic and other heavy metals into nearby waterways.
In the 1990s, a mining company took responsibility for the field and the country. reached an agreement Contact the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for cleanup in accordance with federal Clean Water Act standards. They began work to remove toxic soil, manage contaminated effluent, and concrete-block old mine tunnels. Then the company went bankrupt, and the country was left to shoulder the rest of the mess. Environmentalists wanted to get involved to protect the nearby Big Wood River from further pollution, but federal liability laws got in the way.
By now, this has been the case not only at the Triumph Mine, but at hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines across the West. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden signed legislation protecting good Samaritans from liability as they try to address pollution from abandoned mines. Recent reforms are a breath of fresh air, removing illogical barriers. To improve the environment It threatened to make well-meaning environmentalists victims of past pollution.
federal agency calculation That means there could be 500,000 abandoned hard rock mines across the western United States. This is a vestige of the pioneer days. many of them cause danger As was the case with the Triumph Mine, the past owners of these mines are often long gone. “The mining companies don’t exist anymore,” says Josh Johnson of the Idaho Conservation League. said Local news station KTVB7 in November. “Either it was so long ago that such a company doesn’t exist, or the company is more modern but went bankrupt.”
For decades, few agencies other than state correctional institutions have been willing to help, and for good reason. Under the Clean Water Act, anyone attempting to clean up an abandoned mine is permanently liable for any past, present, or future contamination from the moment they perform the cleanup.
Even if conservation groups or other mining companies agree to carry out work that significantly improves the environment, they may face serious liability if they fail to meet cleanup standards, which are often difficult to achieve. The policy punished those who tried to help, sabotaged cleanup efforts, and allowed toxic contamination to worsen unchecked. This was not in anyone’s interest. There was no benefit to the environment, no benefit to the surrounding communities, and no benefit to conservationists who wanted to make a difference.
Trout Unlimited, a major proponent of the new law, was one of the rare groups willing to embrace it. mine cleaning. “More than 40% of small mountain streams in the West are polluted with heavy metals from abandoned mines.” said CEO Chris Wood. “This bill is about clean water and healthy communities. It will make it possible for organizations not connected to the source of pollution to make our rivers and streams cleaner.”
that law The bill, passed by Congress and signed by the President, establishes a seven-year pilot program that exempts Good Samaritans from liability if they perform a cleanup but are unable to remediate all contamination. These altruistic actors cannot be past or present owners or operators of the site, must not have played a role in creating historic mine residues, and must not be potentially liable for past mine contamination.
One of the sites Trout Unlimited has worked with is Abandoned Gold and Silver. Orphan Boy Mine Near Alma, Colorado. Jason Willis, director of the group’s Western Abandoned Mine Lands Program. said Colorado Public Radio failed to complete its work in compliance with its liability regulations. “We were able to deliver 90 per cent of the project, but in this case the last 10 per cent could not be done because of liability issues,” he said. The group could do things like consolidate waste rock, but could not touch the site’s contaminated drains to clean it up. He went on to say, “There are projects like this all over Colorado that we could address on this bill.”
Incentives are important in conservation. Unfortunately, counterproductive federal regulations that have been in place for too long have hindered cleaner water and healthier ecosystems. The new program will help undo past environmental damage and free up private organizations to truly begin to address the problems plaguing headwaters across the West. This is a victory for conservation and common sense.
