SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
About 10,000 snow geese landed on the toxic waters of the Berkley Pit in Butte, Montana, turning the flooded former copper mine "white with birds." (Photo: Dana/flickr/cc)
Open Pit Mine in Montana Kills Thousands of Migrating Snow Geese
The Berkeley Pit is one of the most toxic bodies of water in the United States
Dec 07, 2016
Thousands of snow geese have been killed by the toxic waters of the Berkeley Pit, a flooded former copper mine in Butte, Montana that is one of the most poisonous and acidic bodies of water in the United States.
Unusually warm weather led the flock--tens of thousands of geese--to migrate south from Canada to the American Southwest later than usual, and they ran into a snow storm in Montana. The only open water in the area on which they could land was that contained in the Berkeley Pit.
The geese landed in the pit, whose water is contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, and zinc, in late November. The heavy metal contamination has resulted in water so acidic that the organisms able to survive within the pit are the objects of scientific study. Thousands of birds did not survive after touching down on the red-tinged toxic waste.
The Washington Post reports:
Roughly 10,000 geese landed in the Berkeley Pit at the end of November, turning the water "white with birds," said a mine official with Montana Resources, which jointly manages the pit with the Atlantic Richfield Company, to the Montana Standard. On Tuesday, investigators could not give an exact measure of how high the death toll would go. But a preliminary estimate, via drone and flyover counts, found thousands of dead birds.
"I can't underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night," Mark Thompson, a Montana Resources [mining company] environmental affairs manager, said to the Associated Press. "Numbers beyond anything we've ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude."
The factors involved were likely a result of climate change, according to Montana Audubon Society executive director Steve Hoffman. Hoffman told the Montana Standard that "with a warmer fall, many birds, including those swimming in the Berkeley Pit water, are migrating later than usual."
"Thompson said federal and state agencies were still confirming the number of dead geese," AP notes. "Nonetheless the company expected the total would be many times more than the 342 that died in 1995, prompting a mitigation effort that seeks to protect birds from the toxic water."
Montana Resources, the mining company, will face fines if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds that its efforts to keep the birds away from the mine were not in compliance with regulatory standards.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Thousands of snow geese have been killed by the toxic waters of the Berkeley Pit, a flooded former copper mine in Butte, Montana that is one of the most poisonous and acidic bodies of water in the United States.
Unusually warm weather led the flock--tens of thousands of geese--to migrate south from Canada to the American Southwest later than usual, and they ran into a snow storm in Montana. The only open water in the area on which they could land was that contained in the Berkeley Pit.
The geese landed in the pit, whose water is contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, and zinc, in late November. The heavy metal contamination has resulted in water so acidic that the organisms able to survive within the pit are the objects of scientific study. Thousands of birds did not survive after touching down on the red-tinged toxic waste.
The Washington Post reports:
Roughly 10,000 geese landed in the Berkeley Pit at the end of November, turning the water "white with birds," said a mine official with Montana Resources, which jointly manages the pit with the Atlantic Richfield Company, to the Montana Standard. On Tuesday, investigators could not give an exact measure of how high the death toll would go. But a preliminary estimate, via drone and flyover counts, found thousands of dead birds.
"I can't underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night," Mark Thompson, a Montana Resources [mining company] environmental affairs manager, said to the Associated Press. "Numbers beyond anything we've ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude."
The factors involved were likely a result of climate change, according to Montana Audubon Society executive director Steve Hoffman. Hoffman told the Montana Standard that "with a warmer fall, many birds, including those swimming in the Berkeley Pit water, are migrating later than usual."
"Thompson said federal and state agencies were still confirming the number of dead geese," AP notes. "Nonetheless the company expected the total would be many times more than the 342 that died in 1995, prompting a mitigation effort that seeks to protect birds from the toxic water."
Montana Resources, the mining company, will face fines if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds that its efforts to keep the birds away from the mine were not in compliance with regulatory standards.
Thousands of snow geese have been killed by the toxic waters of the Berkeley Pit, a flooded former copper mine in Butte, Montana that is one of the most poisonous and acidic bodies of water in the United States.
Unusually warm weather led the flock--tens of thousands of geese--to migrate south from Canada to the American Southwest later than usual, and they ran into a snow storm in Montana. The only open water in the area on which they could land was that contained in the Berkeley Pit.
The geese landed in the pit, whose water is contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, and zinc, in late November. The heavy metal contamination has resulted in water so acidic that the organisms able to survive within the pit are the objects of scientific study. Thousands of birds did not survive after touching down on the red-tinged toxic waste.
The Washington Post reports:
Roughly 10,000 geese landed in the Berkeley Pit at the end of November, turning the water "white with birds," said a mine official with Montana Resources, which jointly manages the pit with the Atlantic Richfield Company, to the Montana Standard. On Tuesday, investigators could not give an exact measure of how high the death toll would go. But a preliminary estimate, via drone and flyover counts, found thousands of dead birds.
"I can't underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night," Mark Thompson, a Montana Resources [mining company] environmental affairs manager, said to the Associated Press. "Numbers beyond anything we've ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude."
The factors involved were likely a result of climate change, according to Montana Audubon Society executive director Steve Hoffman. Hoffman told the Montana Standard that "with a warmer fall, many birds, including those swimming in the Berkeley Pit water, are migrating later than usual."
"Thompson said federal and state agencies were still confirming the number of dead geese," AP notes. "Nonetheless the company expected the total would be many times more than the 342 that died in 1995, prompting a mitigation effort that seeks to protect birds from the toxic water."
Montana Resources, the mining company, will face fines if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds that its efforts to keep the birds away from the mine were not in compliance with regulatory standards.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.