1872 Mining Reform Bill

Congress takes another stab at mining reform

7:45 a.m. January 29, 2009

— A mining reform bill similar to one that passed the U.S. House last year but failed to get out of the Senate has been reintroduced in the House.

In addition to rewriting the Mining Law of 1872, the measure would impose royalties on the hard-rock mining industry.

“Given our current economic crisis and the empty state of our national treasury, it is ludicrous to be allowing this outmoded law to continue to exempt these lucrative mining activities from paying a fair return to the American people,” said Rep. Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., the chairman of the House Resource Committee who introduced the bill on Tuesday.

Please click here to read the entire article

Permits Issued for Uranium Exploration

 by: Eartha Jane Melzer

The National Forest Service has granted permits for Canada-based Trans Superior Resources Inc. to explore uranium deposits within the Ottawa National Forest in the western Upper Peninsula.

In a little-noticed Feb. 15 announcement approving the mining company exploration, the Forest Service stated that the uranium prospecting would have “no significant impact” on public health or safety and that an Environmental Impact Statement was unnecessary.

 Click to read more

Kennecott Investigated for Concealing Public Health Threat

The Salt Lake Tribune (SLT) has been covering a major scandal involving Kennecott and Magma, UT.

Kennecott concealed the seismic risks facing the tailings pond less than a half mile away [from Magma]…
Walker feels a little betrayed and deeply suspicious of the Utah copper giant, which used an undisclosed agent to sell her the home in 1996 – before Kennecott deemed the tailings impoundment safe. “
Click here for the rest of the story

Additional SLT articles on this breaking story:

Kennecott keeps Utah community “in the dark”

Kennecott concealed the potential for a disaster 

Excerpts from the Investigation Memo 

How the Salt Lake Tribune stories came to be 

The sercet memo that details the threat 

Photo Gallery of the Kennecott Tailings

Salt Lake County No. 2 in U.S. for toxic deposits due to Kennecott

The following is from a March 2 story in the Deseret Morning News.

” Salt Lake County ranks second in the nation as a depository for the most materials containing toxic substances.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s annual report of the top 20 counties in the country that have these deposits, 120.3 million pounds of materials containing toxic substances were deposited in Salt Lake County in 2007.

That puts Salt Lake County behind Alaska’s Northwest Arctic County, with 615.3 million pounds of materials deposited, but ahead of Humboldt County, Nev., which had 84.6 million pounds of materials deposited — and 17 other counties with smaller numbers.

Ostensibly, Salt Lake County’s numbers are so high because Kennecott Utah Copper, one of the world’s largest copper mines, is located in the county.”

 Click here for the whole story

“Do you think the Grand Canyon is a good place to mine?”

The following is from a March 1, commentary ran in the Statesman.com

“Nineteenth-century explorer John Wesley Powell wrote that “the wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself. The resources of the graphic art are taxed beyond their powers in attempting to portray its features. Language and illustration combined must fail.”

You would think that the federal government would have the power to protect a place so extraordinary that it leaves visitors at a loss for words. But under the 1872 Mining Law, the Forest Service said its hands were tied when it approved uranium mining operations a stone’s throw from a national treasure.”

Click here for the whole story

Click here for additional information on our threatened national tresures! 

The Seattle Times excellent article on Uranium mining

The following is an excerpt from the Seattle Times article, click here for the whole story.

Sherman Alexie was a teenager when he first felt threatened by the uranium mines near his home on the Spokane Indian Reservation.

His grandmother had died from esophageal cancer in 1980. A few years later, his mother and some other tribal members took out a road map and began marking red dots on every home where someone had cancer.

The roads where the ore trucks rumbled by were pocked with red.

“I remember at that point knowing at some point in my life I’m certainly going to get sick,” recalls Alexie, the acclaimed author who now lives in Seattle and recently won the National Book Award. “I have very little doubt that I’m going to get cancer.”

Such is the legacy of the Northwest’s only uranium mines. At least for those who even know they exist.

Washington’s Hanford nuclear reservation, toxic birthplace of the bomb that set off the atomic age, routinely makes headlines. The Midnite Mine, just 100 miles to the north, is all but forgotten, a combination of denial, neglect and willful amnesia.

One of the world’s largest mining companies is trying to wash its hands of responsibility for a costly cleanup. The federal government is supposed to help sick uranium miners, but people on the reservation don’t even know the program exists.

Leadville, Colorado in Danger of a “Toxic Gusher”

from a Feb. 28 NY Times article; click here for the whole story

This month, Lake County commissioners declared a state of emergency over concerns that rising levels of contaminated water could burst from the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel and flood the town.

For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.

The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.

“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.

Leadville Herald: Leadville commision gets results at Capitol meeting

Denver Post: Flooding in tunnel is blamed on Feds 

1872 Mining Law Reform Passed in House

On November 1st the US House of Representatives passed an 1872 mining law reform by a vote of 244 to 166. SWUP would like to send a special thank you to all of you who sent letters to your representatives. This is an important step to protecting our land and water from unsustainable mining practices.

Click here if you would like to see how your representative voted on the issue