{"id":19748,"date":"2020-02-24T23:28:23","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T23:28:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=19748"},"modified":"2020-02-25T15:23:45","modified_gmt":"2020-02-25T15:23:45","slug":"mine-waste-dams-threaten-the-environment-even-when-they-dont-fail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/mine-waste-dams-threaten-the-environment-even-when-they-dont-fail\/","title":{"rendered":"Mine waste dams threaten the environment, even when they don’t fail"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christopher Sergeant<\/a>, The University of Montana<\/a><\/em> and Julian D. Olden<\/a>, University of Washington<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Scars from large mining operations are permanently etched across the landscapes of the world. The environmental damage<\/a> and human health hazards<\/a> that these activities create may be both severe and irreversible<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Many mining operations store enormous quantities of waste, known as tailings, onsite. After miners excavate rock, a processing plant crushes it to recover valuable minerals such as gold or copper. The leftover pulverized rock and liquid slurry become tailings, which often are acidic and contain high concentrations of arsenic, mercury and other toxic substances.<\/p>\n

Mining companies store tailings forever, frequently behind earth-filled embankment dams. Over the past 100 years, more than 300 mine tailing dams worldwide have failed<\/a>, mainly due to foundation weakening, seepage, overtopping and earthquake damage<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We are research scientists<\/a> studying how humans affect rivers<\/a>. In our view, the damage caused by stored mine waste often outweighs the benefits that mining provides to local economies and the technology industry.<\/p>\n

This issue is especially urgent now in a region of the Pacific Northwest where Alaska and British Columbia meet. This zone, known as the Golden Triangle<\/a>, is studded with mineral claims and leases. We believe that rivers in this area could be severely damaged if proposed mega-projects are allowed to proceed.<\/p>\n