Battle Lines Drawn in U.S. Environmental Hothouse

And you thought the Canadian mining industry was mired in a fight with legislators primed for environmental concerns. In the U.S., the battle is worse, as you will see from the following statement by John Knebel, president of the American Mining Congress.

“. . . (I)n a final bit of action before adjournment, the Senate and House passed a restrictive Clean Air bill that could cost industry upwards of US$30 billion a year. At the same time, they increased civil and criminal penalties for mine site violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and the Mine Safety and Health Act.

“In the 102nd Congress, which convenes in January, 1991, the environmental juggernaut that brought about some of these changes in law will be at work with a vengeance. American industry is the target and mining is the bulls-eye. At the

top of the environmentalist agenda will be a full-scale effort to rewrite the Mining Law of 1872 and enact increasingly restrictive standards for surface and groundwater contamination caused by mine waste.

“The mining industry will be in for a rough siege in the months ahead. Whether we will be able to turn around the punitive legislation already passed and head off more of the same will depend to a large extent on the help we get . . . .”