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.
how charming that top site - Ore Knob Mine - is 100 miles from me by road.
Polluted drinking water isn’t just an issue in urban centers, unfortunately.
“All mining was conducted underground through underground mine workings to access the ore. Underground mine workings are now partly flooded with ground water to a depth of approximately 130-feet below ground surface. The underground mine workings are more than 4,000 feet long and more than 1,000 feet deep. These workings exposed the ore containing sulfur bearing minerals to air and moisture. Air and water react with the ore and produce acid which in turn releases metals into the groundwater. Underground pools of mine-impacted water provide a continuing source of contamination to groundwater down-gradient of the underground mine workings.
This contamination would define a “plume” that migrates away from the contaminant source with time. It was found in 2010 that many residences surrounding the site had tap water contaminated with high concentrations of metals and acid (manganese, iron, cobalt, acidity). This suggests that water is migrating from the mines through faults, fractures, and pore spaces in the bedrock into nearby drinking water wells. EPA became involved at the site when this contamination was discovered and began providing bottled drinking water to affected residents as well as in-house water treatment systems. EPA is currently in the process of extending a municipal waterline approximately 8 miles from the Town of Jefferson, North Carolina to the affected residents.“
On this day, 12 April 1920, workers in Ireland launched a general strike in support of pro-independence prisoners who were on hunger strike in Mountjoy prison, Dublin. The postal service, public transport, shops, pubs and public toilets were all shut. After two days, the British government caved and released all the prisoners. Find out more in this article: http://bit.ly/2VFISBkhttp://bit.ly/2D4DaBN
This blog is mostly so I can vent my feelings and share my interests. Other than that, I am nothing special.
If you don't like Left Wing political thought and philosophy, all things related to horror, the supernatural, the grotesque, guns or the strange, then get the fuck out. I just warned you.
