10/24/2000
Spokane, Washington — “It is only right and fair that the federal government, acting on behalf of the American people, recognize and accept its liability for the cleanup of the waste disposal activities associated with World War II-era mining in Idaho’s Silver Valley and Coeur d’Alene Mining District,” said Northwest Mining Association Executive Director Laura Skaer in testimony given before the U.S. House Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Health and the Environment and Finance and Hazardous Waste in Kellogg, Idaho, on October 24.
“It is the height of hypocrisy, and fundamentally unfair, for the federal government to be suing the only surviving mining companies for cleanup costs associated with World War II-era mining and milling operations,” said Skaer. “The production of lead and zinc in the Silver Valley was essential to winning that war. The cleanup associated with the round-the-clock mining effort essentially is a delayed cost of the unprecedented effort it took to win World War II.
“For the entire history of mining in the Coeur d’Alene Basin, especially during World War II, the federal government, through its various agencies, encouraged, promoted, controlled and directly participated in the very activities that it alleges are the cause of today’s widespread environmental contamination,” added Skaer. “From the beginning of the war, in a charged atmosphere of national crisis, and in its effort to produce lead and zinc for the war effort, the federal government controlled every aspect of day-to-day operations, including mine tailings management. The level of control was such that the federal government was, in effect, the manager and operator of the mining and milling operations.”
Referencing exhaustive research by Robert Higgs, who reviewed more than 1,500 government documents and news articles concerning the federal government’s involvement in northern Idaho mining activity, Skaer revealed that federal authorities, through agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM), War Production Board, Office of Price Administration, and War Manpower Commission, controlled which mines operated, their hours of operation, which strategic metals were produced, and production and price levels. In fact, the federal government used the threat of seizure to ensure that Silver Valley mines complied with its orders.
“But most damning to the federal government is the fact that they had full knowledge of, and approved, tailings disposal practices in the region; this was not surprising because they were legal and socially acceptable at the time,” Skaer explained. “There was no way that either the mining companies or the federal government could foresee that the waste disposal methods used then would later be declared illegal and subject to a cumbersome regulatory cleanup process. The record is clear: the government’s role in managing Silver Valley mines during the first half of the twentieth century make it jointly liable for any environmental remediation costs.”
Supporting that contention is a recent precedent concerning the Stibnite mine and mill in central Idaho. In April 2000, a federal judge, presiding over a strikingly similar case involving Mobil Oil Company’s cleanup at Stibnite, a World War II mining project to supply strategic metals for the war effort, agreed with Mobil’s contention that the federal government was liable as an operator under Superfund. This was the first time a sitting judge had stated an intent to impose liability on the federal government under Superfund at a mining site.
In both cases, at Silver Valley and Stibnite, the USBM and the USGS were involved in minerals exploration and the design of waste disposal facilities; soldiers were furloughed and draft deferments were granted; and the government became pervasively involved in the day-to-day operations of the mine and mill.
Another parallel is found in a 1998 federal district court case, where the court ruled in favor of four major oil companies. The court found that since aviation gasoline was critically needed for the war effort in the 1940s, the companies essentially were required to cooperate with the government to produce as much aviation gasoline as necessary. The federal government knew that increasing production would increase the amount of waste produced. Furthermore, as with lead and zinc, aviation gasoline was so important to the war effort that the U.S. was willing to incur almost any cost to maximize production. Therefore, the federal government was found 100 percent liable under Superfund for the resulting increases in chemical contamination due to materials the company dumped as a waste.
NWMA strongly believes that the federal government should accept the responsibility for mine tailings reclamation in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District, and immediately move to dismiss its natural resource damage lawsuit against the surviving mining companies. In the opinion of the Association, this is a matter of fairness!
Northwest Mining Association is a 105-year-old, 2,500-member, nonprofit, nonpartisan trade association based in Spokane, Washington. The purpose of the Association is to support and advance the mineral resource and related industries, to represent and inform members on technical, legislative and regulatory issues, to provide for the dissemination of educational materials related to mining, and to foster and promote economic opportunity and environmentally responsible mining.
