At a press conference on Wednesday, August 12, Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) Administrator Gina McCarthy said this; “We are going to be fully accountable for this in a transparent way. The EPA takes full responsibility for this incident. No agency could be more upset.”
The accident occurred when an EPA contractor was opening the Gold King mine between Durango and Silverton, Colorado dumping about three million gallons of mine waste in the 126 mile long Animas River. Reports indicate that the toxic flow is teeming with toxins including lead, arsenic and heavy metals. Arizona, New Mexico and Utah are also affected.
The good news is that the EPA Administrator has accepted full responsibility in behalf of the agency she represents. The bad news is that accepting full responsibility for an accident by a government official is totally meaningless. Like so many speeches, lectures, sermons and pronouncements of political administrations, words solve the problem, talk salves the wounds & apologies repair the damage; incomprehensible.
We haven’t heard that anyone has been fired. Probably no one will be laid off or penalized with ‘time off.’ There will almost certainly be no demotions or disciplinary actions. Had this spill been attributed to a private corporation, the officers would have been excoriated by the President. The EPA, Justice Department and other government agencies would have been estimating massive fines reflecting the widespread damage.
Administrator McCarthy’s words ring hollow when the bill for damages gets paid by taxpayers. The word ‘accountability’ is not in the lexicon of government. When the word accountability crosses the lips of government speakers, the discipline of responsibility is complete, no further action required. The cost of the mistake, the expenses of cleanup and lawsuits find their way into some printout that will be forgotten. And Administrator McCarthy and others may even receive bonuses for the cleanup.
The owner of the Gold King mine has been silent and is at odds with the Canadian owner of a nearby mine named Kinross Gold. This brings to light the mine owners, the great State of Colorado and the EPA. Why haven’t these entities been talking, planning, assigning responsibility and making decisions regarding the disposition of waste water with its toxic elements retained by the cavernous underground mine tunnels?
The 1872 Mining Law signed by President U.S. Grant supported western migration by doling out land for mining metals (not coal, oil or natural gas) at $5 an acre. Mine owners could extract what they thought was the optimum yield of the mine and abandon the area.
Earthworks, a non-profit environmental organization estimates that western mine cleanup of the countless number of abandoned mines will cost taxpayers between $32 and $72 billion. The EPA believes that 40% of the headwaters of western US watersheds are polluted as a result of mining for metals.
Our extractions of mineral reserves are based on a law passed 143 years ago. Grant was our 18th President, Obama is our 44th and we are using obsolete laws. The EPA was created by President Nixon in 1970 – 45 years ago. The ‘golden spike’ that celebrated the first transcontinental railway was driven in 1869. How many thousand defunct laws remain on our federal, state and local books?
What have our Congressmen and women been doing all these years? Where have the state legislative bodies been regarding mining hazards? Why haven’t BLM (Bureau of Land Management), Forest Service and EPA officials and other federal agencies been aware of earth and water contaminants that have resulted from feeble outdated mining regulations?
This situation reminds us of a depression law that was overturned in June 2015 by the US Supreme Court. For the past 80 years raisin farmers in California were victims of the USDA’s confiscation of vast quantities of California raisins. Why did elected government officials – at all levels – let this abomination exist for eight decades?
Which is the most important challenge for our elected officials: Climate Change; Budget Deficit; Immigration; Russia’s Incursions; Jobs; Inequality; Medicaid, Medicare, ACA & Disability Fraud; Environmental Quality; Islamic Terrorism; Domestic Crime; Racial Tensions or Abortion?
Answer: None of the above: Get re-elected, retire rich; it’s the votes that count.
– Dick Baynton
