Webinar: Removing Barriers to Cleaning up Abandoned Mines

ConservAmerica recently hosted an online discussion on bipartisan efforts in Congress to address legal disincentives to private sector efforts to address the chronic problem of pollution from abandoned hardrock mines.

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2022 would limit liability provisions under the Clean Water Act that have hampered cleanup efforts by conservation and other Good Samaritan organizations.

Sens. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) and Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico), co-sponsors of the bill, joined ConservAmerica’s Brent Fewell during the webinar to discuss the importance of addressing the unlimited liability issue that has kept most Good Samaritan cleanup efforts from getting off the ground.

Although there is no comprehensive database on the number of abandoned hardrock mines there are in the United States, estimates range from 140,000 to 500,000 legacy mining sites on public and private lands. Many of these abandoned mines pose safety and environmental hazards.

The Environmental Protection Agency estimates 40 percent of headwaters in the West are impacted by acid mine drainage from abandoned mines, discharges that often contain dissolved toxic metals such as arsenic, lead and mercury.

Good Samaritan organizations – those that have no legal or financial responsibility to an abandoned mine – want to remediate these sites. Unfortunately, liability rules would leave these Good Samaritans legally responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine, even though they had no previous involvement with the mine.

The Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act creates a pilot permitting program to enable not-for-profit cleanup efforts to move forward, while ensuring Good Samaritans have the skills and resources to comply with federal oversight.

 Remarks

U.S. Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho) & U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico)

Panelists

Ryan Jackson, National Mining Association

Chris Wood, Trout Unlimited

Ayla Neumeyer, Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho)

Maya Hermann, Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-New Mexico)

Moderated by Brent Fewell, ConservAmerica