May 11, 2000 

MINING EXPOSED AS TOP TOXIC POLLUTER IN U.S.

Yet New Senate Legislation Would Block Stronger Environmental Mining Rules

Washington, D.C., - According to the EPA press office, at 2 pm today theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA) will release its Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) report. The report will reveal that the hardrock mining industry releases more toxics than any other industry in the U.S. The report details the specific pollutants released which include mercury, arsenic, lead and cyanide.

This marks the first year TRI data will be available for the hardrock mining industry. (Hardrock minerals are nonfuel minerals such as gold, silver and copper.) For years, the hardrock mining industry successfully fought efforts to require its submission of toxic release data along with other industries. But in 1997, the EPA, under pressure from Mineral Policy Center and other environmental organizations, required the mining industry to report. This year's TRI will cover 1998 releases.

The new report reveals: * In 1998 Nevada mines released approximately 1.3 billion pounds of toxic pollutants. One Nevada mine reported releasing over 80,000 pounds of mercury, with over 9000 pounds of mercury released directly into the air. * The Cyprus Miami copper mine in Arizona released twice as much toxic waste (123 million pounds) as all of the waste released in New York State (60 million pounds). * Nevada topped the polluter list, eclipsing Texas, due to toxic releases from the mining industry. * Mining eclipsed the chemical manufacturing industry as the nation's top polluter. * In 1997 the chemical manufacturing industry reported 797.5 million pounds of toxic releases nationwide. In 1998, in just one state, Nevada, mining reported approximately 1.3 billion pounds of toxic waste.

Yet even as this new information is released by the EPA, mining industry advocates in the Senate attached an anti-environmental rider to this year's Department of Agriculture spending bill. The rider would block new environmental mining rules. If unimpeded by this rider, these rules would reduce toxic mining pollution, and ensure that mining operators, not the taxpayer, pay the billions of dollars required to clean up toxic mine sites.

The Toxics Release Inventory was created in 1986 by the Emergency Planning and Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA) to provide citizens with vital information about toxic pollution in their communities. 

"For over a decade the industry has hid behind a reporting exemption, now we know what we've long suspected, the mining industry is the nation's biggesttoxic polluter," said Stephen D'Esposito, President of Mineral PolicyCenter. "With this information, pressure will build for the industry to clean up its act. This is a wakeup call for an industry that for too long has escaped public scrutiny."

"The facts speak for themselves. The industry is releasing massive amountsof mercury into Nevada's air, it releases cyanide into our nations riversand streams. And yet rather than respond to these facts, some in the Senatecontinue to listen to mining industry lobbyists," added Alan Septoff, MPC'sreform campaign director. "Industry lobbyists are pushing for an exemptionfrom current limits on toxic mine waste dumping on our public lands. Thisdata shows that Congress should enforce existing waste dumping limits, not grant a toxic waste exemption."

Contact MPC for a full analysis of TRI data. Also MPC can arrange interviews with issue experts and community leaders who live near many of the worst polluting mines. Additionally, photographs of mine waste are available. 

===Mineral Policy Center Protecting Communities and the Environment===

Mineral Policy Center (MPC) works to protect communities and the environment

from the impacts of irresponsible mining in the U.S. and worldwide.

Contact: Alan Septoff, Mineral Policy Center, 202.887.1872, ext. 205 Steve

D'Esposito, Mineral Policy Center, 202.422.8991 (cell)

Mineral Policy Center 1612 K Street NW, Suite 808 Washington, D.C. 20006

202.887.1872 202.887.1875 (fax)

web: www.mineralpolicy.org / email: mpc@mineralpolicy.org

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