Burden of Gilt.

• Author: Runyon, Cheryl

The Mineral Policy Center was established in 1988 as a service bureau to educate and assist citizens' groups concerned with mineral threats to the environment and to lobby for reform amendments to federal mining law.

Burden of Gilt is a thorough report on hardrock mining and the environmental damage and physical danger that result when such mines are abandoned and left "as is." Hardrock mining is the extraction of metals and nonfuel minerals by surface or underground methods. The legacy of hardrock mines that are not reclaimed and restored to a condition similar to their natural state includes surface and groundwater contamination, landslides and subsidence, not to mention injury and even death to incautious explorers and hikers. Although current mining operations are required to take steps to prevent physical and environmental damage, the authors estimate there are half a million abandoned mines in 32 states that have left a "legacy of damage." To clean them up and make them safe could cost between $32.7 billion and $71.5 billion.

The authors urge Congress to pass legislation requiting restoration of abandoned sites. Such a program could be administered by the Environmental...