Ten, maybe you ought to try getting yourself some education...then you wouldnt lose every single debate you start. Just like the way you're about to lose your sorry ass on this one.
Really, though, it isnt fair pickin' on you, its way too easy.
Would you mind refreshing my memory again on when the Canadian Mining company at Landusky went bankrupt...after producing $300 million in profits? I dont think it was 100 years ago, do you?
The good thing though, when they went bankrupt in 1998, they did forfeit their 30 million dollar bond, which will cover less than half the cost of the cleanup.
Heres the puddin':
Zortman-Landusky Gold Mine, USA
The Zortman—Landusky gold mine, owned and operated by Zortman Mining Inc., a fully owned subsidiary of Pegasus Gold Inc., is located in north-central Montana’s Little Rocky Mountains between the towns of Zortman and Landusky. It borders the Ft. Belknap Indian Reservation. In 1982, 780 gallons of cyanide-tainted solution leaked from a containment pond when a section of piping used in the mine’s cyanide sprinkling system ruptured and released 52,000 gallons of cyanide solution onto lands and into creeks. Testing of the tap water revealed that there was a cyanide concentration of 3.2 milligrams per liter (mg/L), well above the drinking water standards and cyanide levels in the creek measures as high as 22mg/l.2 The community’s local water system was shutdown. Over the next two years, eight separate cyanide spills occurred. To find out more go to zortman.pdf.
Heres a little more, learn to research before you make wild-assed claims, dippy. Looks like my education paid of better than you having flunked out of 4th grade, at least I know how to read and comprehend.
Friday, May 3, 2002
U.S., state OK mine cleanup plan
$33.5 million needed for Zortman-Landusky within next two years
By JENNIFER PEREZ and KAREN IVANOVA s
The Tribune
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HELENA -- State and federal authorities announced a final reclamation plan Thursday for the contaminated Zortman and Landusky gold mines in northcentral Montana.
But the agencies must come up with $33.5 million to carry out the cleanup, and an attorney for the Fort Belknap Tribes -- the mine's neighbor -- called the plan disappointing and confusing.
Andrew Huff, of the Indian Law Resource Center in Helena, said he's concerned that the agencies won't find the money and the abandoned cyanide heap-leach mines will get second-rate treatment.
The plan calls for a less complete reclamation if the $33.5 million isn't secured within two years. The backup plan would leave more pit and bench areas exposed, said Wayne Jepson of the Department of Environmental Quality, which signed off on the plan with the Bureau of Land Management.
"We've given it an initial review. We're disappointed because, No. 1, it is designed to have backup options," Huff said. "We think that's problematic because to us it seems to indicate that they'll probably end up going to the (backup plan). I think the tribes will have to decide whether or not to appeal the decision or pursue their litigation in state court."
Pegasus Gold Corp. operated the mines for nearly 20 years, producing about $300 million in gold, before the Canadian company went bankrupt in 1998. At that time, Pegasus forfeited $30 million in reclamation bonds, only roughly half the cost of cleaning up the open-pit gold mine.
During a two-year environmental impact study, the DEQ and the BLM considered six different reclamation plans for each of the two mine sites in the Little Rocky Mountains, from trying to rebuild the scarred mountainsides to their original appearance to partial backfilling of pits and recontouring of waste piles.
"I'm completely satisfied with this plan," Jepson said. "We've spent years working through the different options and advantages."
The plan will require an additional $5 million of work at the Zortman site and $17.5 million at Landusky.
But the agencies' first priority is securing an additional $11 million for long-term operation of pumps that treat contaminated water at the site. The pumps could be needed for as long as 80 years, Jepson said.
The BLM has requested money for the earth-moving work through its normal budget process. But the sum will likely exceed the agency's annual budget for Montana, Jepson said.
The state will pursue grants and work with the Fort Belknap Tribes on getting a congressional appropriation.
But Jepson acknowledged the agencies may have to resort to their backup plan.
"There is a considerable chance given Congress' funding priorities," he said.
Huff and his co-council Heather Brinton, of the Western Environmental Law Center in Oregon will discuss their next step today with the Fort Belknap Indian Community Council and tribal environmental officials.
"So, I think the ball is in our court," Huff said.
If the money is secured, one of the first projects, after establishing the fund for the pumps, will be a $5 million earth-moving effort at the Zortman site.
Workers will remove the top half of the waste rock dump and use it to refill the open pit near the top of the mountain. Barrier covers, much like the liners at the bottom of a landfill, will then be installed to seal off the waste on the mountainside and the remaining material at the waste rock dump site.
In the meantime, the agencies are working at the mine sites with the original bond money.
Some $3 million is left for Zortman and $11 million for Landusky.
Within six weeks, the agencies will issue a $3 million to $4 million-bid package to re-grade a large portion of a leach pad at Landusky and to do backfill work at the pit, Jepson said.
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 08-08-2003 14:14: Message edited by: BuzzH ]</font>
