19th-century law in need of a 21st-century update

Snohomish County might not be the spitting image of the “Wild West,” but we do have a bona fide mining ghost town — Monte Cristo — about an hour from Everett in the foothills of the Cascades.

Once the bustling heart of a gold mining district, Monte Cristo and its mines are long abandoned, the town site itself a curiosity for weekend hikers, a relic of the booming days of gold rushes and prospectors.

Having been born in Butte, Mont., shortly after the development of the Berkley Open Pitt Mine just ouside of town, I have a personal connection to the history and legacy of mining in America. In 1872, the first so-called Copper King, William A. Clark, come to Butte and purchased four large mining claims, beginning a powerful era of mining. By 1879, Butte was incorporated as a large bustling city center and was growing larger literally by the day. A century later the area was designated a Superfund site, as arsenic and heavy metals such as lead were found in the groundwater, rendering the drinking water unsafe.

Here in Snohomish County, along with this colorful local history, the mining district left us dozens of abandoned mines contaminated with arsenic and other toxic heavy metals. Water flowing from the area — water that connects to the Sauk River — was found to contain arsenic at levels 300 times higher than the federal drinking water standard. I worry what that means for our fish — the Sauk River is famous for steelhead, and the smaller streams in the area are full of river trout — and the sportsmen who pursue them.

These dangerous pollutants could also work their way into our public water system, according to the Washington Department of Ecology, putting families at risk of cancer, brain damage and other long-term health problems.

We aren’t the only ones at risk. Mining has polluted 40 percent of the headwaters of watersheds across the West, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency, and left a sorry legacy of abandoned mines that leak acids and toxics into our streams and rivers. The state Department of Ecology estimates that there are 3,800 abandoned mines in Washington.

The problem is the General Mining Act of 1872, which today still governs mining on millions of acres of America’s public lands. That law, intended to spur development of the West, contains no environmental safeguards or dedicated funding to clean up abandoned mines. It allows mining to trump all other public land uses — drinking water, wildlife habitat, and places to hike, camp and fish — and it locks local communities out of decisions about nearby mines.

The 1872 law allows mining companies to remove billions of dollars worth of minerals from our public lands for free — unlike the oil, gas and coal industries, which pay federal royalties. Today such policies are foolish and unfair, especially when taxpayers foot the bill for expensive mine cleanups.

Fortunately, Congress is poised to overhaul the badly outdated law. A mining reform bill has been introduced in the Senate (S. 796) that represents a strong step in the right direction. Another bill (H.R. 699) has been reintroduced, after passing the full House last session, in the U.S. House of Representatives with wide support from hunters and anglers, conservationists, tribes, recreation groups, and even jewelry retailers — the largest consumers of gold. Our senators have an opportunity to support meaningful mining reform this year.

A key provision of both bills is a modest royalty that would have yielded $40 million for abandoned mine cleanups last year. It’s ironic that with metals prices at sustained highs — gold prices have nearly tripled since 2001, and are expected to continue climbing — the mining industry complains to Congress that it can’t afford a royalty. Baloney. The mining industry, which made a combined $26 billion profit in 2006, can clearly afford to help clean up its toxic messes.

Monte Cristo may be a historic relic, but mining is a growing industry these days. High metals prices have sparked a new mining boom in the West with new claims cropping up in Washington.

There is a lot of rich history in our “Wild West” past. I’d like it kept that way: wild, and free from irresponsible mining. Fortunately, the current reform bills being considered in Congress promise to protect many special places, including roadless areas and wild and scenic rivers, from destructive mining operations.

The 1872 Mining Law was written 17 years before gold was even discovered at Monte Cristo. The town is a relic of a bygone era, and so is the law. It’s time to reform it.

Brian Sullivan of Mukilteo, a Democrat, represents the 2nd District on the Snohomish County Council.