Letter to Editor: Abandoned mines are a big issue in the U.S., worldwide
Dear Editor,
The number of abandoned mines in the United States is up to nearly 500,000. Over 30,000 have ruined the environment, according to the Government Accountability Office. Thousands more are discovered every year. Abandoned mines on federal land are mainly controlled by The Bureau of Land Management. President Trump is seeking to cut the clean-up funds from $35 million to $13 million.
For 20 years, the Oklahoma Tar Creek district has been devoid of life. Lead levels still exist in the children. Since 1983, $300 million has been spent to reclaim the land, but only a small fraction has recovered.
California spends $5 million a year removing poisonous sludge. Massive fish are killed as a result from that sludge. The Iron Mountain Mine is contaminated due to acid water percolating through a copper and zinc mine that drains into the Sacramento River. In Colorado there are approximately 400 abandoned mines. They release an estimated 15 million gallons of acid drainage per day. In Brazil, a dam holding back many piles of tailings burst and killed 169 people and left 140 missing. British Columbia had Canada’s worst mining mining disaster (Canada mining.) Research the Polley Mine.
Mining laws are mostly unchanged since 1972. Loop holes in the law will result in modern mines that will constantly pollute.
I have contacted my Upper Michigan legislators as well as my United States senator about these situations. They have done nothing to deter the mine. Wisconsin legislators have done nothing to prevent the mine. Nothing will get done unless our legislators get volumes of calls and letters.
The Menominee River is priceless. Let’s not lose it to a Canadian company. Canada has the worst mining reputation in the world. They have the reputation for being the MOST environmentally destructive and the least compliant with human rights.
Call your legislators now so you won’t be sorry later.
All facts have been documented by Associated Press.
Bob Krysiak