It\u2019s time to reform hardrock mining<\/p>\n
Next week Congress will begin working on legislation to update the law that regulates hardrock mining. The law that is currently in place was signed by President Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 back when mining was done by prospectors swinging pickaxes. The industry has changed tremendously since then and often involves large foreign corporations using massive equipment and huge quantities of harmful chemicals to extract gold, silver and copper. Unfortunately the 1872 mining law didn\u2019t foresee the need to require mining operations to clean up the toxic messes that they left behind.<\/p>\n
The recent spill, which turned the Blue River orange in Breckenridge, or the 2015 Gold King Mine spill near Silverton are good reminders that hardrock mining is a dirty business. The Environmental Protection Agency says that under the 1872 law, hardrock mining has polluted 40% of Western headwaters, with an estimated cost to clean up these sites over $50 billion.<\/p>\n
The antiquated law also doesn\u2019t charge companies royalties for the valuable minerals they take out of the ground on public lands. That means that billions of dollars worth of minerals have been taken \u2014 royalty-free \u2014 from the public lands that belong to all of us.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time to change the archaic laws that govern mining. I urge everyone who enjoys fishing, hiking or camping on our beautiful public lands in Colorado, to let their representatives in Washington know it\u2019s time to make common sense reforms to the 1872 mining law.<\/p>\n
Jackson Streit<\/p>\n
Owner<\/p>\n
Mountain Angler fly fishing shop in Breckenridge<\/p>\n
U.S. foreign policy responsible for border crisis<\/p>\n