02.09.16

Ranking Member Grijalva Lauds Administration Budget Proposal To Clean Up Abandoned Hardrock Mines, Urges Republican Action

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva (D-Ariz.) today praised President Obama’s newly released budget proposal to establish a dedicated funding source to clean up the estimated 500,000 abandoned hardrock mines posing environmental and safety hazards to communities around the country.

The plan is similar to Grijalva’s Hardrock Mine Reform and Reclamation Act (H.R. 963), which modernizes hardrock mining on public lands. Both proposals offer a viable path forward for thousands of miles of lifeless American streams that often run orange because of acid mine drainage.

Largely due to Republican refusal to update the Mining Law of 1872, the hardrock mining industry has never been required to address its legacy of polluted mining sites and contaminated waterways. Last year’s Gold King Mine spill in Colorado – which prompted a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on Sept. 17, 2015, at which the Republican majority neglected to invite any industry witnesses – highlighted the significant threat that abandoned hardrock mines pose to people, wildlife and the environment.

The president’s proposal would, for the first time, make polluters pay to clean up their mess. It establishes an industry fee based on the amount of material displaced during active hardrock mining operations, similar to the per-ton fee paid by the coal industry into the coal Abandoned Mine Land fund. It is estimated to raise $200 million each year for hardrock mine remediation.

“The only reason to oppose this effort is a misguided belief that industry will voluntarily clean up after itself,” Grijalva said. “Instead of facing reality, too many of my Republican friends keep repeating the phrase ‘Good Samaritan’ as though its magical properties can make acidic mine waste disappear by itself. We need an enforceable polluter-pays system to clean these sites up, and we need it now before we start to see more Gold King-style disasters.”

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