It’s been nearly seven years since then-Rep. Mark Udall first attempted to bring a common-sense solution to the issue of cleaning up thousands of abandoned mines across the West.
The idea, first introduced in the House in 2005, was to allow volunteers to clean up the sites without assuming full legal liability.
Udall took to the floor of the Senate last week to once again bring lawmakers’ attention to the need for the federal government to make it easier for “Good Samaritans” to clean up abandoned mines without putting themselves at legal or financial risk.
Udall has introduced the legislation in every Congress (including in 2009, after he was elected to the Senate) without success. His most recent effort counts Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., as a sponsor.
A 2009 Denver Post story noted that, as a result of opposition from environmental groups, Udall had tightened the bill to focus on the Clean Water Act. The idea was to streamline the lengthy permitting for groups who otherwise would have to obtain a permit under the Clean Water Act to clean up an old mine while shielding them from liability.
The fear among some environmental groups was that any change to the Clean Water Act could open the floodgates to a wholesale evisceration.
We don’t think voters, particularly those in the West, would stand for it. And a recent Colorado College poll of Westerners’ views on the environment seems to back that contention.
The poll found strong support for the statement that environmental laws are “important safeguards to protect private-property owners, public health and taxpayers from toxic pollution and costly cleanups.”
But as a result of concerns about a gutting of the Clean Water Act, Udall, Bennet and Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., have written to the EPA to determine whether an administrative solution might be possible.
“We believe that there is flexibility under current law to help incentivize cleanups at abandoned hardrock mine sites,” their Feb. 10 letter states. “We ask EPA to provide clarity to those qualified non-governmental organizations, while continuing to ensure that responsible parties are held liable for the harmful environmental legacy at abandoned mines.”
They’ve asked for a response from the agency by the end of the month. Short of that, and given that tens of thousands of abandoned mines dot red and blue states across the United States, we would encourage the trio to continue trying to build bipartisan support for Good Samaritan legislation.
We have long advocated for Good Samaritan work as one way to chip away at the legacy of mineral extraction in the West.
Allowing eager and able volunteer groups to clean up abandoned mines is one that should be able to find broad support in Washington from Democrats and Republicans alike.
