Essay, Research Paper: Mining

The EPA says environmental justice is the "fair treatment for people of all races, cultures, and incomes, regarding the development of environmental laws, regulations, and policies? (EPA: September 30,1997). I think governmental action is necessary to catch the mining industry's attention, and to convince the industry that it needs to be a steward of the land and its resources. Butte, Montana needs environmental justice in order to help them from future problems arising. But I think Butte, Montana, as a town, is also to blame for the mess they are in. Being a United States city its citizens have certain rights. They can vote in public officials and they can ask for ordinances to be passed to protect their town.
I believe mining operations, including smelting and refining, can be pursued without environmental damage on the awesome scale of Butte, Montana. They can meet necessary standards for protection of human health. Still, some environmental disturbance is inevitable, if there is going to be mining, the public must recognize this inescapable fact. The question is do the benefits outweigh the costs and by how much?
The first step is mandating that the mining industry make a plan and in that plan have a detailed report on how environmental, safety, and health standards will be met. Some things mining companies could be required to do are launch a four-year program of conformity with state and federal air-quality standards, be required to reclaim land as they go along; and organize a task force that is responsible for the reclamation of mined areas. They could also be required to draft an environmental statement to cover the entire period of operation.
Education of the miners is also important. Mining engineers should be offered a selection of academic courses on the subjects of environmental law, air pollution, ecology for engineers, mine environment planning, and reclamation practices. They could even major in environmental geology. Education could help to improve technology, which in turn could advance mining techniques for the future. This is a cost that should be the burden of the mining companies. It is the responsibility of the citizens of Butte to ask for it and be sure it?s happening.
I feel the mining industry can reasonably be expected to pay for current and future programs; it should not be expected to fully finance reclamation for the past two hundred years. The citizens of Butte, Montana owe it to themselves to analyze if the benefits of income and jobs on the local scale, or the comparative advantage on a national scale outweighs the costs of water pollution, erosion, and naturals hazards on the local scale.
An analysis of the past two hundred years of mining in the United States helps to explain the actions of the mining industry and why it has held its stubborn opinions to the present day (Smith 1993: 168). Sincere, hard-working people, trying to do the best they could under circumstances that were not all of their own making, were not intent on being villainous. To paint miners as destroying the environment and to accuse them of "raping and pillaging" is unfair historically. The past should serve as a fund of collective wisdom and experiences from which to draw and as a standard by which to measure current realities. From the past we can learn ways to plan for the future. The amount of land to be reclaimed and the stream pollution to be cleaned up are staggering, and the American public, as well as the industry, must be willing to make the sacrifices to achieve these goals.



Bibliography


Environmental Protection Agency, September 30, 1997. About Environmental Justice. http://www.epa.gov/swerosps/ej/aboutej.htm. Accessed: September 27,2000.
Smith, Duane A. 1993. Mining America- The Industry and the Environment, 1800-1980. University Press of Colorado. p. 168.


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