Mine cleanup rules may get tougher

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's Board of Land Commissioners and Environmental Quality Board have approved new rules that would help protect Idaho taxpayers from having to pay cleanup costs if a mining company goes bankrupt.

The rules were prompted by Atlanta Gold Corp., which in 2004 applied to the U.S. Forest Service and other agencies to build two open pits about 70 miles northeast of Boise near the historic town of Atlanta, where it says it can mine more than 500,000 ounces of gold.

The company would use a cyanide leaching process involving arsenic to recover the gold. Low levels of arsenic in water can cause cancer, skin problems, blood diseases and other ailments, according to the World Health Organization.

The area where the mine is planned eventually drains into the Boise River, which serves a population of 500,000 who depend on the river for part of their water supply, recreation and irrigation of crops.

The new rules now go to the Idaho Legislature, which convenes in January, for final approval.

The rules apply to mines that use cyanide to leach gold out of ore, increasing the bond from $100,000 to the actual estimated cost to close the mine. The rules were put together by representatives of the mining industry, environmentalists and state regulators.

"It's tough but we're not complaining," Jack Lyman, the lobbyist for the Idaho Mining Association, told The Idaho Statesman. "I've always argued that, 'Tell me what the rules are and we'll meet them.' What we don't want to do is to encourage a company to come to Idaho and invest, then change the rules."

The new rules shift the responsibility for cyanide mine bonding from the Department of Environmental Quality to the Idaho Department of Lands, which already handles reclamation bonding.

"This is not the wholesale reform we thought was needed, but it's a step in the right direction," said Justin Hayes, Idaho Conservation League program director, who helped write the legislation and the rules.

The rules are stricter than the mining industry expected, but will likely reduce political pressure for a ban on mines using the cyanide leaching process. Similar bans were twice approved by Montana voters.

Denise Mills, deputy director of the Idaho Department of Lands, came to Idaho from Montana, where mining company bankruptcies forced Montana taxpayers to pay millions of dollars to clean up and close gold mines that used cyanide.

Those mines could have sent millions of gallons of water polluted with heavy metals and arsenic into rivers, killing fish and making them unfit for drinking or swimming.

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Information from: The Idaho Statesman, www.idahostatesman.com