Threats to Water
On August 5, 2015, a spill at the Gold King mine near Durango, Colorado sent more than 3 million gallons of toxic water into the Animas River. The spill went from Colorado into New Mexico, and on to Lake Powell in Utah, through the Navajo Nation. Gold King is one of many abandoned mines that still pose serious threats to the health and safety of communities downstream.
It is in large part because of these abandoned and inactive mines that the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that mining has polluted at least 40 percent of stream reaches in the headwaters of western watersheds. Much of this pollution is due to abandoned mines.
Threats to the Taxpayer
Cleaning up and securing these abandoned mines before they become the next Gold King may cost more than $50 billion. And because, unlike the coal mining industry, the metal mining industry pays no fee to clean up its mess, the American taxpayer is on the hook for that cost.
So mines are left to fester until minor problems become major problems. Colorado officials have made repeated statements to the media that the state of Colorado does not have enough funding to address leaks at abandoned mines. And they are not alone.
The Problem
The root of the problem is the 1872 Mining Law, an archaic federal law that still governs hardrock mining on our public lands today.
It allows mining corporations to remove billions in gold, silver, copper, and other metals, from our public lands with no royalty payment to the public. All of the other resource extraction industries, including the coal, oil and gas industries, pay a federal royalty that contributes towards cleanup.
Furthermore, the Bureau of Land Management/U.S. Forest Service/Environmental Protection Agency rules that pertain to hardrock mining are lax and riddled with exemptions. They need to be updated to close loopholes like the ones in the regulations that enforce the Clean Water Act.
The solution
We need to modernize the 1872 Mining Law. With meaningful reform we may be able to prevent future disasters like the Animas spill and ensure that abandoned mines are cleaned up and no longer threaten communities and the environment.
For More Information
- General Accountability Office: Abandoned Mines: Information on the Number of Hardrock Mines, Cost of Cleanup, and Value of Financial Assurances. 2011 testimony provides the most conservative government estimate of abandoned mine numbers and reclamation costs.
