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Thousands of snow geese have been killed by the toxic waters of the Berkeley Pit, a flooded former copper mine in Butte, Montana that is one of the most poisonous and acidic bodies of water in the United States.
Unusually warm weather led the flock--tens of thousands of geese--to migrate south from Canada to the American Southwest later than usual, and they ran into a snow storm in Montana. The only open water in the area on which they could land was that contained in the Berkeley Pit.
The geese landed in the pit, whose water is contaminated with arsenic, cadmium, cobalt, copper, iron, and zinc, in late November. The heavy metal contamination has resulted in water so acidic that the organisms able to survive within the pit are the objects of scientific study.[1] Thousands of birds did not survive after touching down on the red-tinged toxic waste.
[...] Montana Resources, the mining company [who jointly manages the pit with the Atlantic Richfield Company], will face fines if the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finds that its efforts to keep the birds away from the mine were not in compliance with regulatory standards.
[1] Abstract with link to full-text PDF.
In related news, Common Dreams reports Scott Pruitt is an Unacceptable Choice to Run EPA
"Scott Pruitt is the wrong choice to run the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA plays an absolutely vital role in enforcing long-standing policies that protect the health and safety of Americans, based on the best available science. Pruitt has a clear record of hostility to the EPA's mission, and he is a completely inappropriate choice to lead it", [said Ken Kimmell, president of the Union of Concerned Scientists.]
USA Today reports Scott Pruitt, Trump's Pick to Head the EPA, has Sued the EPA
"Having Scott Pruitt in charge of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is like putting an arsonist in charge of fighting fires", said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club. "He is a climate science denier who, as Attorney General for the state of Oklahoma, regularly conspired with the fossil fuel industry to attack EPA regulations."
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 10 2016, @07:50AM
Montanan here. An interesting historical episode was when Hauser [wikipedia.org] convinced Anaconda Company to convert from steam power to electrical for its Butte mines. Hauser was involved in the construction of several hydro-electric dams on the Missouri River and elsewhere. But Anaconda then wished to break contracts with Hauser, sabotaged his dams, and formed the Montana Power Company. MPC became the monopoly power company in Montana eventually, using other dirty tricks to try and bankrupt rural electrical cooperatives, and opening coal-powered generating facilities to produce power for export (see Colstrip. [wikipedia.org]) Montana Power went belly up in 1997 when they tried a Enron-type re-purposing that resulted in bankruptcy and the loss of much on the part of retirement funds that thought investments in regulated utilities was safe. And you may have also seen Anaconda Company in the movie "Motorcycle Diaries" about Che Guevara. Yes, The Donald can only dream about doing as much damage as Rockefeller did.