2/17/2009
Spokane, Washington – Thousands of good-paying jobs in the West can be created with funding for the remediation of abandoned mine lands, as provided by Congress with the passage of H.R. 1, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The bill, commonly known as the economic stimulus package, provides $125 million to the Bureau of Land Management for the “maintenance, rehabilitation and restoration of facilities, properties, trails and lands and for the remediation of abandoned mines.” The U.S. Forest Service will receive $650 million for capital improvement and maintenance projects, which include efforts to remediate abandoned mine sites. Additionally, the cleanup of historic mine sites within National Parks is eligible for $589 million in National Park Service construction funding.
NWMA applauds Congress for recognizing the need to fund remediation of historic abandoned mine sites and the logic to contribute taxpayer dollars to the effort. These historic mines built America. They made it possible to electrify our nation, win two World Wars, and build an efficient transportation system.
NWMA Executive Director Laura Skaer stated, “Most of the abandoned mine sites in need of remediation were developed prior to this nation even thinking about environmental laws or regulations. Mining took place in this country for one hundred and thirty years before the first environmental laws were enacted. I’m pleased that Congress recognizes that America benefited from these historic mines. It is therefore appropriate to use some taxpayer resources to cleanup these abandoned mines.”
In marked contrast to the unregulated era of mining of the past, today America has the most stringent environmental laws and regulations in the world. Modern mines are safe, protect water quality and fish and wildlife habitat, and reclamation plans are in place and funded prior to the commencement of mining operations. For example, last year, federal and state agencies in Nevada announced that they jointly hold $1.031 billion in reclamation bonds to guarantee reclamation of Nevada mines. The environmental protections and bonding requirements for modern mines work together to ensure that today’s mines will not become tomorrow’s abandoned mines.
The mining industry is poised to lead the U.S. out of this recession by providing much-needed high-paying jobs and the materials needed to rebuild our nation’s infrastructure and attain energy independence. Now, with these economic stimulus funds, today’s mining community stands ready to create even more jobs cleaning up the historic mines that built America.
The Northwest Mining Association is a 114 year-old, 1,965 member non-profit, non-partisan trade association based in Spokane, WA. NWMA’s purpose is to support and advance the mineral resource and related industries, represent and inform its members on technical, legislative and regulatory issues, provide for the dissemination of educational materials relating to mining, and foster and promote economic opportunity and environmentally responsible mining.
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