Supreme Court Takes on NW Mine Waste Case
Chris Thomas, News Director
Monday, January 12, 2009
Washington, D.C. – A U.S. Supreme Court case being argued today has major implications for lakes and rivers in Washington, and around the country.
The Coeur Alaska mining company has a permit to dump 4.5 million tons of treated waste from its Kensington gold mine into Lower Slate Lake near Juneau, Alaska. The mine refers to the waste as "fill material" -- and in 2002, the government's definition of such "fill material" was changed to include mining waste.
The Sierra Club and some Alaska conservation groups challenged the permit. They believe it will open the door for other industries to ignore the federal Clean Water Act by simply renaming their waste byproducts. They're being represented by attorney Tom Waldo of Earthjustice.
"They're calling the waste 'fill material,' and arguing that that makes it exempt from the rule. But that's a ruse. Fill material is what you use if you need to build a parking lot in wetlands, or a bridge across a river or something."
Waldo says if the court rules in favor of waste dumping, it sets a dangerous precedent.
"We could see impacts, not only for mines nationwide, but for any sort of industrial facility – any factory, any mill that generates wastewater that has a high component of solids in it and could be considered ‘fill material.’"
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, mining has already contaminated 40 percent of the watersheds in the West. In this case, Coeur Alaska's Web site refers to the mine waste as "inert, sand-like material" that has been treated with detergents. The company also says the waste is less expensive to dump than to store. The lawsuit also includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, for granting the permit. The Supreme Court's decision is expected this spring.
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