An Ugly Prospect

Mining claims encroaching on Western population centers

Posted at 12:50 PM on 12 Mar 2008

Mining claims on federal land in the West are coming increasingly close to urban areas, according to a new report from the Environmental Working Group. Thanks to a spike in the value of many minerals -- and antiquated U.S. mining law, which is highly prospector-friendly -- there are now 51,600 hardrock claims within five miles of Western population centers, nearly double the count in 2003. Las Vegas and the Phoenix area both have more than 5,000 claims within a five-mile radius. While fewer than 5 percent of claims are likely to actually be developed into mining operations, greens are still antsy. Mining accounts for more toxic Superfund sites than any other industry, and also requires a lot of water, which the West doesn't really have to spare.

sources: Los Angeles Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, The Arizona Republic, The Salt Lake Tribune
straight to the report: Mining Claims Threaten Western Cities and Towns
see also, in Grist: Exploratory uranium mine near Grand Canyon given go-ahead

ADVERTISING POLICY

Comments: (5 comments)

You are not logged in. Thus, you cannot post a comment. If you have a Gristmill account, log in below. If you don't have a Gristmill account, well, by all means go make one! Meet you back here in five.

separation of mineral rights

Some readers here may be unaware of the separation of mineral and surface rights in current US law. You can pay good money to preserve a few acres of healthy ecosystem only to see your efforts compromised by Corporation X which already owned the Mineral Rights.

Currently in Montana there's a big ranch under perpetual conservation easement which was really damaged by oil drilling- the new owners sought to have the conservation easement lifted because the land was now "worthless for farming use". They succeeded, and then tried to sell of sections as "ranchettes" to recoup their expenses. These folks and the town are being sued over the easement change. If they win, the whole concept of conservation easement for ecosystem preservation is under threat - developers will rush to sue to overturn perpetual conservation easements.

All this started with the absurd separation of surface and mineral rights- it's a physical enshrinement of the concept of corporation, which has been separating real people from personal responsibility for their life-damaging activities.

Stephen Brown (Sharon, PA)

by pianoyoga at 12:13 PM on 13 Mar 2008

Heh...

...unintended consequence...the cities are soon surrounded by a circle of minig pits and quarries and suburban sprawl comes to a halt as a result.

Okay, not really, but still, it would be amusingly ironic, no?

by Tasermons Partner at 1:11 PM on 13 Mar 2008

If Humans Insist On Digging Into The Earth ...

If mining, which is a very ecologically destructive activity, is going to take place at all, it should be in areas with large populations. Those who benefit from mining, i.e., humans, should bear the brunt of the harm it causes.

by Wolverine at 3:38 PM on 13 Mar 2008

strange article if you ask me

So I guess what they are saying is that it's a horrible shame that mining would take place close to major population centers, but if it takes place in the middle of nowhere then it's okay?

by prhom at 7:15 PM on 31 Mar 2008

Suprised that Grist is not covering Magna, Utah...

Since March 23, the Salt Lake Tribune, and the Deseret News in Salt Lakes City, Utah, have been reporting on the Kennecott Utah Copper's cover-up of twenty years ago in regard to a tailings "dam" which could burst and flood/destroy homes in Magna, Utah. As well as pollution clean-up of water from the mine.
This is an ongoing reportage, and should be followed by Grist--as well as the other Kennecott Minerals' Eagle metallic sulfide mining (copper and nickel) planned project now awaiting final permits (DNR, DEQ and Fed EPA) in Marquette County, Michigan, along the south shore of Lake Superior--which includes several watersheds as well.
Grist and readers: Please view the websites in Marquette County, Michigan: www.yellowdogwatershed.org--and www.savethewildup.org--these two websites provide links to both the Michigan problem as well as the Magna, Utah problems.
Thanks!

by Douglas Scott Treado at 8:02 AM on 02 Apr 2008

The comments of Grist users reflect the opinions of those individuals only, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Grist, its staff, its board members, their psychotherapists, or their aestheticians. Got it?