Acid Mine Drainage is Perpetual Pollution
Acid mine drainage is especially nasty because it can occur indefinitely without treatment, long after the mining source of the pollution has ended.
Many hardrock mines across the Western United States may require water treatment in perpetuity. For example, government officials have determined that acid drainage at the Golden Sunlight mine will continue for thousands of years.
Water treatment can be a significant economic burden on the local economy if the mining company files for bankruptcy or refuses to cover water treatment costs. For example, acid runoff from the Summitville Mine in Colorado killed all biological life in a 17-mile stretch of the Alamosa River. The site was designated a federal Superfund site, and the EPA is spending $30,000 a day to capture and treat acid runoff.
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