Nevada Senator Introduces Bill to Give Away Public Lands to Mining Industry
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto introduced legislation today that would allow the mining industry to turn public lands into toxic mining-waste dumps.
The bill removes most requirements for mining claims and development. Under the bill, mining companies would be allowed to bury public lands under tons of rock waste, construct roads and transmission lines, regardless of whether or not they had proven legal rights to do so. The bill would undo a century of legal precedent requiring mining claimants to prove they discovered a valuable mineral deposit on public lands before they could mine there.
“Sen. Cortez-Masto has become a mining-industry puppet and is throwing communities, Tribes and wildlife under the bus,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The United States should be leading the world in setting the highest environmental standards for mining, especially for minerals needed for the renewable energy transition. Instead, she’s leading a race to the bottom where the only winners are mining company shareholders.”
Waste tailings piles are the source of widespread toxic pollution that have harmed countless communities and Tribal nations across the country. For example, the Questa mine in New Mexico dumped 328 million tons of acid-generating waste rock and more than 100 million tons of tailings in ponds spanning nearly 3,000 acres. The mine’s pollution has tainted water supplies in New Mexico for decades.
“The Cortez Masto legislation would allow New Moly Mining Corp. to cover over federally protected public springs at Mt. Hope here in Nevada with millions of tons of waste rock and create a forever source of water pollution,” said John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch. “Given the enormous ecological and significant climate footprint of mining, the permitting needs to be careful and judicious. This bill does just the opposite.”
Nevada Senator Introduces Bill to Give Away Public Lands to Mining Industry
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez-Masto introduced legislation today that would allow the mining industry to turn public lands into toxic mining-waste dumps.
The bill removes most requirements for mining claims and development. Under the bill, mining companies would be allowed to bury public lands under tons of rock waste, construct roads and transmission lines, regardless of whether or not they had proven legal rights to do so. The bill would undo a century of legal precedent requiring mining claimants to prove they discovered a valuable mineral deposit on public lands before they could mine there.
“Sen. Cortez-Masto has become a mining-industry puppet and is throwing communities, Tribes and wildlife under the bus,” said Patrick Donnelly, Great Basin director at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The United States should be leading the world in setting the highest environmental standards for mining, especially for minerals needed for the renewable energy transition. Instead, she’s leading a race to the bottom where the only winners are mining company shareholders.”
Waste tailings piles are the source of widespread toxic pollution that have harmed countless communities and Tribal nations across the country. For example, the Questa mine in New Mexico dumped 328 million tons of acid-generating waste rock and more than 100 million tons of tailings in ponds spanning nearly 3,000 acres. The mine’s pollution has tainted water supplies in New Mexico for decades.
“The Cortez Masto legislation would allow New Moly Mining Corp. to cover over federally protected public springs at Mt. Hope here in Nevada with millions of tons of waste rock and create a forever source of water pollution,” said John Hadder, director of Great Basin Resource Watch. “Given the enormous ecological and significant climate footprint of mining, the permitting needs to be careful and judicious. This bill does just the opposite.”
Nevada Senator Introduces Bill to Give Away Public Lands to Mining Industry
