Dale Bumpers: “more than a year ago I addressed this body to tell my colleagues about a proposed gold mine that posed a major threat to…”

“more than a year ago I addressed this body to tell my colleagues about a proposed gold mine that posed a major threat to Yellowstone National Park. Crown Butte Mining, Inc. proposed to construct a 72-acre impoundment area with a dam that would be somewhere between 75 and 100 feet high, which would have a plastic lining on the bottom and some sort of a cap on top to keep oxygen away from the 5.5 million tons of tailings from the mining operation that would go into this impoundment area. The purpose of keeping the oxygen away from it is to keep the waste from turning into sulfuric acid. This earthfill dam would be located high about Yellowstone National Park and the Yellowstone River, in one of the most seismically active, earthquake-prone areas of the country. An area where it snows thirty feet a year. I introduced a bill at the time to withdraw Federal lands from around that mine from further disposal under the mining laws, and to draw attention to this problem. I said at that time that my bill would not legally stop Crown Butte from proceeding with the mine, but that I hoped my bill would discourage them and dissuade them from doing it. I said that I hoped that Crown Butte, as good corporate citizens, would not force the issue and leave us to wonder whether or not this 5.5 million tons of tailings that they proposed to impound there could possibly break loose and pollute the Clarks Fort and Soda Butte Creek, which flows right into Yellowstone National Park.”