Page 665 - Environment: The Science Behind the Stories

The mining industry has made great strides in reclaim- activities. It also aimed to promote mining at a time when the
ing mined land and employs many hard-working ecologists government was trying to hasten settlement of the West in an
and engineers to conduct these efforts. However, even on orderly way. The law may have made good sense in 1872,
sites that are restored, impacts from mining (such as soil and but the United States has changed a great deal since then, and
water damage from acid drainage) can be severe and long- many question the law’s suitability for today’s nation.
lasting. Moreover, reclaimed sites do not generally regain the Supporters of the policy say that it is appropriate and
same biotic communities that were naturally present before desirable to continue encouraging the domestic mining indus-
mining. One reason is that fast-growing grasses are gener- try, which must undertake substantial financial risk and invest-
ally used to initiate and anchor restoration efforts. This helps ment to locate resources that are vital to our economy. Critics
control erosion quickly from the outset, but it can hinder counter that the policy gives valuable public resources away to
the longer-term establishment of forests, wetlands, or other private interests nearly for free. They also point out that many
complex natural communities. Instead, grasses may outcom- claims made under this law have eventually led to lucrative
pete slower-growing native plants in the acidic, compacted, land development schemes (such as condominium develop-
nutrient-poor soils that usually result from mining. Moreover, ment) that have nothing to do with mining.
many inconspicuous but vital symbiotic relationships (p. 98) Critics have tried to amend the law many times over the
that maintain ecosystems—such as specialized relationships years, mostly without success. In 2007, the U.S. House of
between plants and fungi and plants and insects—are elimi- Representatives passed a bill that would largely end the pat-
nated by mining and are very difficult to restore. enting process, put some public lands off-limits to mining,
Water polluted by mining and acid drainage can also be mandate that mined sites be restored to some semblance of
reclaimed, if pH can be moderated and if toxic heavy metals can their former condition, and require miners to pay the govern-
be removed. Like the reclamation of land, this is a challenging ment royalties of 4% of profits from new mines and 8% from
and imperfect process, but researchers and the mining indus- existing mines. The money would help to fund cleanups of
try are making progress in improving techniques. The need for mined sites and reimburse communities affected by mining.
treatment can be long-lasting. Mines in Spain from the era of the This bill was never brought to vote in the U.S. Senate, how-
Roman Empire still leach acid drainage into waterways today. ever, and failed to become law. The latest legislative effort, the
Hardrock Mining and Reclamation Act of 2009, failed to get
out of committee in both houses of Congress.
WeIghINg the IssUes The General Mining Act of 1872 covers a wide variety of
metals, gemstones, uranium, and minerals used for building
RestoRINg MINed aReas Mining has severe environmental
impacts, but restoring mined sites to their pre-mining condition materials. In contrast, fossil fuels, phosphates, sodium, and
is costly and difficult. How much do you think we should require sulfur are governed by the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920. This
mining companies to restore after a mine is shut down, and law sets terms for leasing public lands that vary according to
what criteria should we use to guide restoration? Should we the resource being mined, but in all cases the terms include
require complete restoration? No restoration? What should our the payment of rents for the use of the land and the payment
priorities be—to minimize water pollution, health impacts, biodi- of royalties on profits.
versity loss, soil damage, or other factors? Should the amount
of restoration we require depend on how much money the Toward Sustainable Mineral Use
company made from the mine? Explain your recommendations.
Mining exerts plenty of environmental impacts, but we also
have another concern to keep in mind: Minerals are nonrenew-
An 1872 law still guides U.S. mining policy able resources (p. 21) in finite supply. Like fossil fuels, they
form far more slowly than we use them, and if we continue to
Government policy plays a role in the ways that mining com- mine them, they will eventually be depleted. As a result, it will
panies stake claims and use land. In the United States, this has benefit us to find ways to conserve the supplies we have left
been controversial because policy is still guided by a law that and to make them last. Reducing waste and developing means
is well over a century old. The general Mining act of 1872 of recovering and recycling used mineral resources are ways
encourages people and companies to prospect for minerals on we can pursue the use of mineral resources more sustainably.
federally owned land by allowing any U.S. citizen or any com- We will likely never achieve 100% recovery, but we can do
pany with permission to do business in the United States to much better than we are doing today.
stake a claim on any plot of public land open to mining. The
person or company owning the claim gains the sole right to Minerals are nonrenewable resources
take minerals from the area. The claim-holder can also patent in limited supply
the claim (i.e., buy the land) for only about $5 per acre. Regard-
less of the profits they might make on minerals they extract, the Unlike sunlight or water or forests, minerals do not regenerate
law requires no payments of any kind to the public, and until fast enough to provide us a new supply once we have mined
recently no restoration of the land after mining was required. all known reserves. They are therefore considered nonrenew-
The General Mining Act of 1872 was enacted partly in able resources. Some minerals we use are abundant in their
response to the chaos of the California Gold Rush and other supply and will likely never run out, but others are rare enough
664 episodes, and it was designed to bring some order to mining that they could soon become unavailable.

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