everydaytrash

Eh, anyone who knows anything about mining trash, please explain this? The US Supreme Court ruled yesterday 6-3 in favor of a mining company who wants to dump 4.5 million tonnes of what’s known as coal slurry into Lower Slate Lake, Alaska.  The slurry is expected to annihilate life in these waters. Wikipedia says the following about coal slurry:

High-profile disasters associated with these slurry impoundments have called into question their safety. In February 1972, three dams holding a mixture of coal slurry and water in Logan County, West Virginia failed in succession: 130 million gallons of toxic water were released in the Buffalo Creek Flood.

Out of a population of 5,000 people, 125 people were killed, 1,121 were injured, and over 4,000 were left homeless. The flood caused 50 million dollars in damages. Despite evidence of negligence, the Pittston Company, which owned the compromised dam, called the event an “Act of God.”

Seriously, how flawed is the Clean Water Act if these things are ok? (And sure, this dumping is planned, so the flooding part isn’t going to happen, but its toxxxic man!)

Tags: Alaska, Clean Water Act, Mining trash, supreme court

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 23, 2009 at 11:51 am and is filed under Trash Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.