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On Tuesday the U.S. House passed bipartisan 'Good Samaritan' abandoned mine cleanup legislation by voice vote. The bill passed the U.S. Senate unanimously in July, and President Joe Biden is expected to sign it into law. The bill's approval by Congress is the culmination of decades of effort by advocates and by current and former lawmakers, beginning with former U.S. Senator Max Baucus of Montana in the 1990s, and including former U.S. Senator Mark Udall of Colorado and current U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, both of whom championed versions of the bill over the years with bipartisan support from Western members of Congress.
Across the West there are as many as 500,000 abandoned mines—some dating back to the 1800s, with no party legally responsible for cleanup—that contaminate water and soil with a variety of metals and other toxic pollutants. 'Good Samaritan' organizations that were interested in taking on cleanup of these sites were usually hesitant to do so because they were concerned about taking on liability for the sites and the contamination caused. If signed into law, the legislation passed Tuesday will create a 15-project pilot program that will allow a nonprofit, state agency, or industry group to take on a cleanup project with liability protections from the Clean Water Act and the Superfund law. A Good Samaritan must have no previous connection to the cleanup site.
"For more than 25 years, Good Samaritans have tried to clean up abandoned mines but have faced significant hurdles and liability rules that hold them responsible for all the pre-existing pollution from a mine — despite having no involvement with the mines before their cleanup efforts," Heinrich said in a statement. "With today’s passage, we’ve now cleared one of the final hurdles preventing these groups from helping to protect the land, water, fish, and wildlife our communities rely on."
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We must protect the ancient paradigm of living with the land—protection and reverence for tradition and the livelihood of its people. Now is the opportunity to preserve the Caja del Rio for future generations as part of our American landscape.”
