In “An Unhappy Birthday for the 1872 Mining Law” Alan Steptoff explains the creation of the 1872 Mining Law and it’s impacts on current mining laws and the environment. The 1872 Mining Law was originally created to: “1. Encourage the extraction of minerals by giving them away, and 2. Fulfill America’s “Manifest Destiny” — i.e. extirpate Native Americans – by “selling” mineral bearing lands at rock bottom prices to “settle” nonarable public lands.” Through this process the U.S.  has given away more than $300 billion in publicly owned gold, copper and other metals, and has sold mineral-bearing publicly owned lands equal to the state of Connecticut for no more than $5 per acre.

“The consequences of giving the mining industry free rein for 108 years (and arguably up to present day)?

1. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 40% of the headwaters of western watersheds are polluted by mining.

2. 500,000+ inactive and abandoned mines litter the country, the cleanup of which will cost $50 billion (or more).

3. Some of these mines turn into disasters, like the Gold King mine which famously turned the Animas River (part of the Colorado River watershed) orange with mine waste last summer.

Known problem mines like Gold King still cause problems today because – unlike the law governing coal mining — the 1872 Mining Law doesn’t charge the hardrock mining industry a reclamation fee to clean them up…”

Read the full article here.