Click the link to read the article on the Colorado Public Radio website (Caitlyn Kim). Here’s an excerpt:
December 10, 2024
The U.S. House on Tuesday approved the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, via voice vote. The bill passed the Senate in July and now goes to President Joe Biden’s desk. The bill sets up a pilot program under the Environmental Protection Agency to allow “good Samaritans” to clean up and improve water quality around abandoned hard rock mine sites without being subject to liability for pre-existing pollution…
Colorado Sens. John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet are original co-sponsors of the Senate bill, while Colorado Reps. Brittany Pettersen, Joe Neguse, Lauren Boebert, Jason Crow and Yadira Caraveo co-sponsored the House version. Hickenlooper said the bill is important for all Mountain West states because current liability rules make clean up work too risky.
“If someone, a good Samaritan, comes along and wants to help try to fix [an old mine leaking pollution] and they’ve got a great idea … they can’t do it because the moment they touch anything to do with that pollution, they own it. In other words, they can be sued.” Hickenlooper said. “This is all about trying to let people clean up the mess that people made a century ago without being liable for it.”
[…]
It’s estimated there are as many as 140,000 abandoned hardrock mines in the U.S., with about 23,000 in Colorado. The legislation sets up 15 pilot projects over seven years. Ty Churchwell, mining coordinator for Trout Unlimited, said passage of this bill is “a big, big deal.” The non-profit is one of only a few that do this kind of work, with much of it done by state mine remediation agencies.