A recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) found that there are at least 161,000 abandoned mines in western states. The research, conducted in the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, not only emphasized the large number of abandoned mines in this area, but also pointed out the potential dangers abandoned mines can present to both the environment and society.

To determine the number of abandoned mines in these states, GAO outlined the definition of an abandoned mine. GAO classified an abandoned mine as all structures, buildings, and land at a site where previous mining operations had occurred. Then, using this definition GAO requested states provide data on applicable sites. States reported that greater than 161,000 mines meet the criteria. Out of these 161,000 mines, an estimated 332,000 attributes of these mines could possibly cause safety concerns. On top of that, more than 33,000 sites have reported damage to the environment, including the contamination of both surface and ground water. The number of abandoned mines varied greatly among these states, ranging from 469 abandoned mines in Alaska to 50,000 abandoned mines in Arizona.

The GAO also conducted this study with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Forest Service on their respective lands using the same definition. GAO expressed their uncertainty over the accuracy of both BLM and the Forest Service estimates due to their inclusion of mines with questionable ownership, the occasional inclusion of non-hardrock mines in their data, and BLM’s prioritization of discovering sites near populated areas over remote areas. The BLM reported a total of 70,816 abandoned mines on their land, while the Forest Service reported a total of 28,921 abandoned mines on their land.

This report comes at a time when many are calling for a reform of the 1872 Mining Law, a 137 year old statute that governs hardrock mining on federal lands and allows mining companies to mine for free on federal lands, on top of receiving generous tax breaks. As the number of abandoned mines increases so does taxpayer liability. Reforming the existing law would create valuable revenue sources to address these cleanup costs, estimated at upwards of $50 billion. It is time this enormous liability is shifted from taxpayers to the industry that profits from these mining operations. We urge lawmakers to support legislation to reform the 1872 Mining Law this Congress.

To see the full GAO report, click here.

For more information, please contact Autumn Hanna at (202) 546-8500 x112 or autumn [at] taxpayer.net.