Congress would allow mines to dump on public lands. Don't let them

Congress wants to roll back protections in an already weak and outdated mining law. Don’t let them.

Thomas Wiewandt
| opinion contributor

Arizona’s water laws are badly outdated on multiple fronts, so changes to federal laws that affect the safety and security of our vanishing water supplies should concern all Arizonans and deserve close scrutiny.

On May 8, the US House of Representatives voted to pass House Resolution 2925the Mining Regulatory Clarity Act of 2024 –– a bill strongly opposed by the Biden administration and still pending approval in the Senate.

Politicians and mining company executives concocted this bill to overturn the Rosemont decision, an Arizona District Court Ruling reaffirmed by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2022.

The decision temporarily blocked the proposed Rosemont open-pit copper mine in southern Arizona that wanted to dump its waste in a national forest.

Bill would let mines dump on public lands

HR 2925 — written under the pretense of “reforming” the Mining Law of 1872 — represents a step backwards on an already outdated law. It loosens regulations needed to protect our public lands and water supplies.

If signed into law, the legislation would allow large-scale mining companies to dump waste and other mining byproducts on our public lands, including sites sacred to Native Americans, that lie outside the boundaries of original mining claims allowed by the General Mining Law of 1872 .

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The 1872 law, written to encourage westward expansion during California’s Gold Rush days, still governs most hard rock mining activities in the West.

It allows individuals and companies — domestic duck foreign — to stake claims for exclusive rights to hardrock mineral deposits on our federal “public domain lands.”

Thus, most hard rock mines are on property that belongs to the American public. And mining companies pay no royalties to the federal government for this privilege.

Mine law is already too weak on pollution

Furthermore, this antiquated law does not require mine operators to reveal the amount or value of the minerals they are extracting –– so what they take cannot be properly monitored or regulated.

As of September 2018, there were 748 hard rock mining operations on federal land –– many of them controlled by foreign companies that can ship their booty overseas.

Ourpublic domain lands” — mostly in 11 Western states — are now managed by the Bureau of Land Management (77%) and the US Forest Service (18%).

In 2004, the EPA estimated that the backlog of cleanup costs for hardrock mines across the country could run up to $54 billion. New BLM regulations added in 1976, 1981 and 2001 have tightened environmental controls and cleanup requirements.

But regulations now require mining companies to self-monitor on-site water quality –– really?!

This can affect air and lands for miles around

To reach ore deposits by surface mining, thousands of acres of waste rock must be removed, which requires a lot of blasting, crushing and hauling.

Copper oxide ore, for example, rarely contains more than 2% copper by weight. Waste is discarded in enormous tailings piles, where minerals, which are harmless when underground, can become toxic in the presence of air and water.

Wind can carry toxic dust from tailings over vast distances.

To concentrate copper, oxide ores must be finely ground and leached into a solution of water and sulfuric acid, a process called heap leaching. So, it’s no surprise that acid drainage from mines is a key source of surface and subsurface water contamination.

Runoff after a powerful summer monsoon storm can spread toxins to off-site watersheds quickly, and “containment” plans rarely work as hoped.

A 2019 review of the West’s 15 operating copper mines (10 in Arizona) revealed that all but one failed to capture and control wastewater, resulting in substandard water quality in nearby communities and environmental safety hazards.

Don’t vote for anyone who’d weaken it more

To make matters worse, a 2023 US Supreme Court decision — Sackett v. EPA — limits waters that the federal government has the authority to protect under the 1972 Clean Water Act. The court decided that the EPA can only protect wetlands and streams with a year-round surface connection to rivers, lakes and other navigable waters.

In effect, then, none of Arizona’s intermittent surface or underground water sources can benefit from federal oversight, setting the stage for corporate abuse.

So, now it’s completely up to the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to determine what is and what is not permitted.

The mining industry is fully aware of loopholes in our federal and state regulations, and making hollow or unenforceable promises for environmental protection can be expected in their proposals.

They will cut corners wherever possible to save money. Non-compliance appears to be the norm rather than the exception.

The takeaway? If you believe that Arizona has a prayer for a safer and sustainable future, scrutinize candidates carefully before you vote.

According to Harvard’s legal review, Trump’s 2016-2020 administration weakened or undid at least 80 regulations and climate policies needed for clean energy deployment and environmental protection. These changes have had a big impact on Arizona.

Your vote in the 2024 presidential election can affect environmental funding and bipartisan protections that have taken decades to establish.

Thomas Wiewandt is a field ecologist and educational media producer at wildhorizons.com. He graduated with an MS in zoology from the University of Arizona and a PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology from Cornell. Reach him at [email protected].

Congress would allow mines to dump on public lands. Don’t let them