50M gallons of polluted water pours daily from US mine sites
50M gallons of polluted water pours daily from US mine sites
News Type: State, Regional, Federal Source: Associated PressClick here to read the article: https://www.apnews.com/8158167fd9ab4cd8966e47a6dd6cbe96
Every day many millions of gallons of water loaded with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals flow from some of the most contaminated mining sites in the U.S. and into surrounding streams and ponds without being treated, The Associated Press has found.
That torrent is poisoning aquatic life and tainting water supplies in Montana, California, Colorado, Oklahoma and at least five other states.
The pollution is a legacy of how the mining industry was allowed to operate in the U.S. for more than a century. Companies that built mines for silver, lead, gold and other “hardrock” minerals could move on once they were no longer profitable, leaving behind tainted water that still leaks out of the mines or is cleaned up at taxpayer expense.