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As Wyoming's economy suffers from boom-and-bust coal and oil markets, environmental cleanup projects are one of the few bright spots in the state. The Casper Star-Tribune reports that the state is on track to complete 96 mine reclamation projects by the end of the year, generating $200 million for local economies and employing hundreds of workers.
The future of mine cleanup funds is in doubt, however. The federal government's authority to collect fees to pay for abandoned mine cleanup is set to expire next year. Wyoming Senators John Barrasso and Mike Enzi have introduced a bill to extend the program—but also cut the fees coal companies pay by 35 percent.
The Western Organization of Resource Councils issued a report earlier this year highlighting the fact that the coal industry has no viable financial strategy other than defaulting on its cleanup obligations—and that the the bonds coal companies must post don't come close to covering the full cost of cleaning up.
Unknown threats to drinking water
Across the West, hundreds of thousands of abandoned hard rock mines also pose a threat to drinking water, the Associated Press reports. Utah settled its lawsuit with the EPA this month over the cleanup disaster at Colorado's Gold King Mine. As part of the settlement, the EPA agreed to start a Superfund assessment at three sites in Utah, including Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood canyons near Salt Lake City. A 2015 report from the Center for Western Priorities estimated the cost of cleaning up abandoned mines on national public lands to be between $9.1 and $21 billion.
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This is a place where our God lives. We do the best we can to take care of this place. It touches our lives in every which way.”
