The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved the first permit under the its new “Good Samaritan” law to remediate abandoned mine workings.
The permit has been issued to Trout Unlimited, a fishing and sportsmen focused nonprofit that engages in riverine conservation all over the West.
The Good Samaritan act passed in 2024 with broad bipartisan support after 20 years of campaigning by groups including Trout Unlimited.
The legislation was championed by US Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jim Risch (R-ID) and US House Reps Celeste Maloy (R-UT), Mary Peltola (D-AK), and Susie Lee (D-NV).
It facilitates state agencies and other third parties to clean up abandoned mines more quickly and effectively, tens of thousands of which are known to pollute rivers and streams across the country.
As historic sites often a century old or more whose owners are long gone or deceased, it’s rare that any party can be held responsible for cleaning them up. At the same time, federal laws treat organizations that volunteer to clean up these mines, including state agencies and private groups like Trout Unlimited, as if they are the very polluters who left behind the mine waste.
This complicates permitting and long-term legal and financial liability for any mine pollution remaining after cleanup, disincentivizing the same. The Good Samaritan law created a pilot program to provide limited liability protections for up to 15 low-risk projects conducted by state agencies or other third parties.
“Hardrock abandoned mines are a scourge on the landscape. No one is required to clean them up, so every day they release their toxic brew of zinc, cadmium, lead, and arsenic into our drinking water and trout streams,” said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited in a statement.
The permit thusly issued to Trout Unlimited will address ongoing contamination of Toroda Creek in Okanogan County, Washington state, about 140 miles northwest of Spokane.
At the site, known as the Bodie Mine, historic mine tailings will be removed and streambanks restored to reduce contamination of the stream by arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and other toxins. The project will improve the health of the broader watershed, part of the Columbia River Basin.
“Bully for the EPA [for] authorizing the first abandoned mine cleanup under the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024,” Wood added. “May their efforts lead many more states and communities, non-profits, and yes, even mining companies, to lend a hand and make our waters more fishable and swimmable.”
MORE GOOD NEWS FOR RIVERS: Toronto River Once So Polluted it Caught on Fire Now Is Flush with Fish
While many Americans have never picked up any mining jargon, it’s likely they’ve seen mine tailings before. If you’ve driven by a mining site and seen the long metal chute depositing gravel and dirt into a large conical pile—those are tailings, and they are either stored in landfill type installations or as a slurry in a pond or dam.
Back in the day, however, they were often just stored on site wherever there was space. Many ore bodies that contain useful and valuable metals like zinc, gold, or silver, may also contain—as Wood mentioned—arsenic, lead, and other toxic heavy metals. The process of grinding and separation that allows for the extraction of the former also liberates the latter. Left in piles of derelict tailings, they present a much greater risk of toxicity than when they were underground.
CLEANER, MODERN MINING: Quebec Firm Pioneers Cyanide-Free Gold Extraction and Arsenic-Capture to Clean up Mining Industry
GNN recently reported on Trout Unlimited’s activities contributing to the truly hair-raising numbers of central California coho salmon running up rivers along the Mendocino coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been contracting Trout Unlimited to remove barriers in the Navarro, Big, Garcia, and Noyo River watersheds for years leading up to the salmons’ return.
SHARE This Great Start Towards A Cleaner West With This New Law…