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Breaking News from America's Progressive Community... Latest Releases
Making news? The press releases posted here have been provided to NewsCenter by the one of the many progressive organizations we have selected to participate . If you would like more information about this press release, you should contact the organization directly.
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| NOVEMBER 4, 1998
7:13 PM FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: American Rivers Tom Cassidy or Amy Souers (202) 347-7550 |
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| Montana Voters Save Blackfoot River | ||||
| WASHINGTON -
November 4 - Montana voters yesterday enacted a ballot initiative that would prohibit the
use of cyanide leaching technology at new open-pit mines. Unofficial returns in 99% of
precincts indicate that Initiative 137 was approved by 53% of Montana voters. This approval will prevent the construction of a cyanide heap-leach gold mine on western Montana's pristine Blackfoot River. "The Blackfoot River has been saved by the people of Montana," said Tom Cassidy, general counsel for American Rivers. "This voter-approved initiative will ensure that the Blackfoot and its fabled trout fishery will not be traded for a massive open-pit gold mine that requires cyanide to operate. Montanans have voted for clean water, world-class fisheries and environmental protection." Pollution from cyanide leaching operations can devastate water quality and fish populations. The threat of an enormous open-pit gold mine near the Blackfoot spurred American Rivers to name the river one of the most endangered in the country in April. In cyanide leaching operations, the ore is placed in heaps and sprayed with sodium cyanide-114 million pounds of the solution over the life of the proposed Blackfoot mine-to extract the gold. A plastic liner is placed beneath the heaps to protect against cyanide leaks, but the Environmental Protection Agency has found that such liners spring one leak per acre, on average. Every cyanide heap-leach mine in Montana has had cyanide spills, leaks, or discharges that have violated its environmental permit. The financial instability of the gold industry would have made long-term cleanup of the mine uncertain. In July, American Rivers and the Mineral Policy Center supported the state of Montana's decision to stop the environmental review of the mine, based on the threat of pollution, the declining price of gold, and the declining value of the mining company's stock. Made famous by Norman Maclean's A River Runs Through It, the Blackfoot River sustains rainbow, brown, and brook trout, as well as native westslope cutthroat trout and bull trout, species petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Recreational fishing on the Blackfoot generated more than $7 million in 1995. "The Blackfoot is one of the nation's most beloved rivers," Cassidy added. "Despite years of abuse from mining, timber harvesting, and grazing, it remains an extraordinary resource. The magnitude of the threat this mine posed to the river was far out of proportion to the economic benefit it would have provided -- especially when the gold market is so weak. The risk of contaminating this great river with cyanide, arsenic, and acid mine pollution is simply not worth it." American Rivers, the nation's leading river conservation organization, has long advocated reform of the 1872 Mining Law that gives mining companies virtually automatic access to Federal land. The antiquated law allows a company to take title to the land for a few dollars an acre and does not require the company to clean up abandoned mine sites. According to the Mineral Policy Center, a century of unregulated mining has left behind 557,000 abandoned mines, 50 billion tons of waste, and 10,000 miles of dead streams. For more information about American Rivers and the Blackfoot River, visit our web site at www.amrivers.org. ### |
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