Free and Open: The 1872 Mining Law · Episode 4 of 10 · 20 min
Walk Away: Half a Million Holes in the Ground
The 1872 mining law explains how to stake, hold, and buy a claim but says nothing about cleanup, and the silence has left the West with an uncounted number of abandoned mines. On August 5, 2015, a crew breached the Gold King Mine and three million gallons of acid water turned the Animas River mustard-yellow through tribal lands.
Where it happens
- Gold King Mine, Colorado+1 more episodeAbandoned mine above Silverton breached on August 5, 2015
- Animas River, ColoradoRan yellow for about 100 miles after the Gold King blowout
- San Juan River, New MexicoNavajo farmers shut irrigation canals during peak growing season
- Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana+1 more episodeLargest contaminated body of water in the United States
- Iron Mountain Mine, CaliforniaSource of extremely acidic water; treated indefinitely
- Summitville Mine, Colorado+2 more episodesCyanide heap-leach mine abandoned in 1992, left to EPA
Timeline
- May 10, 1872General Mining Act signed; silent on closure and cleanup
- December 1992Galactic Resources goes bankrupt and abandons Summitville; EPA takes over
- June 1993Burden of Gilt report estimates 557,650 abandoned sites
- August 5, 2015EPA-led crew breaches Gold King; about 3 million gallons of acid water flow downstream
- August 7, 2015Navajo Nation closes irrigation canals on the San Juan
- March 2020GAO identifies about 140,000 abandoned hardrock mine features on federal land
Still debated
No reconciled national count of abandoned mines exists, and estimates of cleanup cost range from $20 to $54 billion. Who caused the water buildup behind Gold King was never adjudicated; a $45 million settlement ended the question without answering it.
← PreviousThe Law in Their Heads: Elk City, 1976Next →The Escape Hatch: How a Played-Out Mine Becomes Yours
