The Uncosted West · Episode 5 of 15 · 54 min
How Mining Companies Walk Away From Toxic Cleanups (Bankruptcy and Orphan Mines)
Superfund law is meant to make the polluter pay, so how do so many poisoned mines end up orphaned onto the public? The episode follows the mechanism through the Berkeley Pit from Anaconda to ARCO to BP, EPA's 2018 decision not to require hardrock miners to prove they can pay for cleanup, the roughly half-million abandoned mines, and the partial fix of the 2024 Good Samaritan law.
Where it happens
- Berkeley Pit, Butte, Montana+1 more episodeAcid-filled former copper pit, a Superfund centerpiece
- Summitville Mine, Colorado+2 more episodesCyanide gold mine abandoned in bankruptcy in 1992
- Gilt Edge Mine, South DakotaGold mine left insolvent in 1999
Timeline
- 1955Anaconda opens the Berkeley Pit
- 1980Superfund law enacted with retroactive liability
- 2000BP acquires ARCO and inherits Butte liabilities
- 2002About $87 million settlement controls pit drainage
- February 2018EPA declines to require hardrock financial assurance
- December 17, 2024Good Samaritan Act for abandoned hardrock mines signed
Still debated
The widely repeated $50 billion cleanup figure is an estimate, not an audited total. Disputes continue over whether financial-assurance rules would have helped and whether any bond can price perpetual acid treatment.
← PreviousHow Kennecott Avoided the Superfund List (Bingham Canyon's 72-Mile Plume)Next →Uranium, Coal, and the Poisoning of Navajo and Hopi Land
