Under Ancient Mining Law, Public Lands Cost Only 84 Cents Per Acre

[hatrack]

The 1872 Mining Law, which reaches its 132nd anniversary this week, has allowed the federal government to essentially give away 9.3 million acres of public lands in the American West to mining corporations -- many of them foreign-owned -- who then exploit the land for profit and leave taxpayers to clean up the damage.<1>

Failure to change the law has left a black mark on many an administration -- a tribute to the lobbying power and campaign cash of the mining industry. Rather than push for long-overdue reform of this antiquated law, the Bush Administration has continued the process of giving away public lands for as little as $0.84 an acre.

To make matters even worse, the administration has actually weakened what few environmental protections were in the statute, by allowing for "unlimited use of public land for toxic mine waste disposal."<2>
Since the law went into effect 132 years ago, the federal government has sold 9.3 million acres of public land to mining companies and others at give-away prices, according to a report released this week by the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Companies that exploit this law, many of them foreign-owned, then use the land for their own profit and do not have to pay the federal government one single penny for the minerals they extract. As if that weren't bad enough, the law then allows these companies to abandon the mines when they are through with them, and leave America's taxpayers to shoulder the cost of cleaning up the waste.

EDIT

The Bush Administration opened the door for mining companies to leave an even bigger mess behind when, in 2001, it abruptly codified (without public comment period) a decision by Interior Secretary Gale Norton that allowed for unlimited dumping of mining waste on public lands. The administration further weakened protections by stripping language from federal regulations that would have prohibited approval of mines that could cause "substantial irreparable harm." Even that was not enough. Interior Secretary Norton also wrote new rules that eliminated provisions protecting nearby water supplies from contamination from mining waste.<4>"

EDIT

http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/
May 13th edition - this updates daily

[pmbryant]

1. I remember the 'good old days'

back when this atrocious misuse of federal lands was one of the more pressing issues we faced. Bush has messed so many things up so bad though, that this had completely disappeared off my radar screen the last couple years.

Thanks for the reminder.

Peter