US officials drop mining cleanup rule after industry objects
The move came after mining groups and Western-state
Requiring more from mining companies was unnecessary, Pruitt said, and "would impose an undue burden on this important sector of the American economy and rural America, where most of these jobs are based."
The
The EPA spent
Since 1980, at least 52 mines and mine processing sites using modern techniques had spills or other releases of pollution, according to documents released by the EPA last year.
In 2015, an EPA cleanup team accidentally triggered a 3-million gallon spill of contaminated water from
The Obama-era rule was issued last December under court order after environmental groups sued the government to enforce a long-ignored provision in the 1980 federal Superfund law.
"It's galling to see the Trump administration side with industry polluters over the America taxpayer," said
"We'll see them back in court," she added.
The proposal applied to hard-rock mining, which includes precious metals, copper, iron, lead and other ores. Coal mines already were required to provide assurances that they'll pay for cleanups under a 1977 federal law
Hard-rock mining companies would have faced a combined
The mining industry and members of
"Today's action shows that reason can prevail," Quinn said.
Hard-rock mines in the
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