For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Contacts:
Justin Hayes, Executive Director, (208) 345-6933 x 224
John Robison, Public Lands & Wildlife Director, (208) 345-6933 x 213
Abby Urbanek, Communications & Marketing Manager, (208) 345-6933 x 214
Idaho Conservation League encouraged by federal legislation to clean up abandoned mines
Idaho Senators Risch and Crapo were original co-sponsors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – On December 17, 2024, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024 was signed into law by President Biden after passing the U.S. House of Representatives last week. This bipartisan legislation, co-led by Senator James Risch (R-ID) and Senator Martin Heinrich (D-NM), aims to tackle problems left behind by abandoned hardrock mines. The bill passed unanimously in the Senate in July 2024.
The Idaho Conservation League (ICL) is pleased that this bill has been signed into law after having been in the works for many years. This effort is needed to help address the pollution leaking from hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines, most of which are in the West. These abandoned mines contaminate over 100,000 miles of streams with arsenic, cadmium, lead, and other heavy metals that make the water unsafe for animals, humans, and aquatic species. According to the Idaho Department of Lands, there are 8,800 abandoned mines in the state.
“Pollution flowing out of abandoned mines in Idaho impacts thousands of miles of streams, contaminating drinking and irrigation water, harming fish and wildlife, and posing safety hazards to public land users,” said Justin Hayes, executive director of the Idaho Conservation League. “This new law, which was co-sponsored by both Idaho Senators Risch and Crapo, will provide new tools to clean up these messes, restoring water quality and fisheries. We appreciate their work and know that it will make a difference in Idaho, and across the West.”
While progress has been made to address some abandoned mines, many other cleanup efforts have stalled because of liability concerns. The new law waives certain liability provisions and establishes clear permitting guidelines for 15 pilot projects designed to remediate and restore these sites. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would permit efforts on non-federal lands, while the permit process for projects on public lands would fall to the respective federal land management agency, in coordination with the EPA. This would enable qualified non-profit organizations and third parties to clean up these sites, facilitating restoration of our public lands and waters.
Hundreds of thousands of abandoned mines pose safety problems across the West. Although there have been cleanup efforts at some sites, there is much work left to do. Although no one knows the exact number of abandoned mines, this Good Samaritan legislation should help put us on a path toward restoration by adding another tool in the toolbox to address this problem. In a complementary effort, the Department of the Interior recently announced $3.7 million for states to inventory, assess and reclaim dangerous and polluting hardrock abandoned mine lands across the country as part of the newly created Abandoned Hardrock Mine Reclamation (AHMR) grant program.
“This Good Samaritan legislation is an important step in the right direction, but we still need to reform the General Mining Law of 1872 to prevent the creation of more toxic mine sites that are also likely to be abandoned in the future. Clean water in our rivers and streams is in everyone’s best interest,” concluded John Robison, ICL’s public lands and wildlife director.
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