The EE Sampler - Jefferson County Public Schools

David Soleimani-Meigooni
Mining Proposal
Recently a Bush administration backed proposal, creating clearer standards for mining
operations, is under review at the U.S. Office of Surface Mining. Although the proposal is
presented under the guise of streamlining mining laws, it manages to relax 20-year-old
restrictions that prevent mining activities near waterways.
Current laws disallow the disturbance of land within 100 feet of a waterway, unless the
company carrying-out the mining activity has clear and convincing evidence that their activities
will not affect water quality and quantity. The Bush proposal would effectively erase the
aforementioned law, allowing mining and waste disposal from mining activities to be performed
adjacent to our streams, rivers, and lakes.
Our natural water sources are life-sustaining. Why should we allow mining companies to
stick their waste rock, containing sulfides and heavy metals, right beside open, unprotected
water? Sulfides react with atmospheric moisture and oxygen to form sulfuric acid, which leaches
into our water supply. Furthermore, these acids increase the mobility of the heavy metals in
mining waste, thereby concentrating metals in our water. Yum—chemical waste in my
community’s drinking water and the water that supports the plant and animal life of the stream.
Other than the effect of the chemicals, we should also consider the effect of sediments.
Sediment runoff from mining waste fills the niches available for sustaining a wide variety of
aquatic life and makes breathing quite difficult for these organisms.
Clearly, these bureaucrats in Washington either have not thought of the full scope of their
actions or they genuinely do not care about turning our waterways into the equivalent of an open
sewer, unfit for any purpose other than transporting waste. After all, these politicians don’t live
in coal mining country and will never have to directly encounter this problem. Nonetheless, it is
unacceptable for them to have the willingness to sacrifice life—something I thought that the
President and his administration held sacred—for the purpose of economic health and cheap
energy. We must voice our concern immediately. Call and write our congress representatives to
implore them to fight for the health of our waterways by promoting the enforcement of the
present mining standards.
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