First permit to clean up old mine waste issued for WA state under 2024 'Good Samaritan act' Sep 11, 2026 The US Environmental Protection Agency has approved the first permit under the its new "Good Samaritan" law to remediate abandoned mine workings. The permit has been issued to Trout Unlimited, a fishing and sportsmen focused nonprofit that engages in riverine conservation all over the West. The Good Samaritan act passed in 2024 with broad bipartisan support after 20 years of campaigning by groups including Trout Unlimited. The legislation was championed by US Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Jim Risch (R-ID) and US House Reps Celeste Maloy (R-UT), Mary Peltola (D-AK), and Susie Lee (D-NV). It facilitates state agencies and other third parties to clean up abandoned mines more quickly and effectively, tens of thousands of which are known to pollute rivers and streams across the country. As historic sites often a century old or more whose owners are long gone or deceased, it's rare that any party can be held responsible for cleaning them up. At the same time, federal laws treat organizations that volunteer to clean up these mines, including state agencies and private groups like Trout Unlimited, as if they are the very polluters who left behind the mine waste. This complicates permitting and long-term legal and financial liability for any mine pollution remaining after cleanup, disincentivizing the same. The Good Samaritan law created a pilot program to provide limited liability protections for up to 15 low-risk projects conducted by state agencies or other third parties. "Hardrock abandoned mines are a scourge on the landscape. No one is required to clean them up, so every day they release their toxic brew of zinc, cadmium, lead, and arsenic into our drinking water and trout streams," said Chris Wood, president and CEO of Trout Unlimited in a statement. The permit thusly issued to Trout Unlimited will address ongoing contamination of Toroda Creek in Okanogan County, Washington state, about 140 miles northwest of Spokane. At the site, known as the Bodie Mine, historic mine tailings will be removed and streambanks restored to reduce contamination of the stream by arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury and other toxins. The project will improve the health of the broader watershed, part of the Columbia River Basin. "Bully for the EPA [for] authorizing the first abandoned mine cleanup under the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024," Wood added. "May their efforts lead many more states and communities, non-profits, and yes, even mining companies, to lend a hand and make our waters more fishable and swimmable." While many Americans have never picked up any mining jargon, it's likely they've seen mine tailings before. If you've driven by a mining site and seen the long metal chute depositing gravel and dirt into a large conical pile - those are tailings, and they are either stored in landfill type installations or as a slurry in a pond or dam. Back in the day, however, they were often just stored on site wherever there was space. Many ore bodies that contain useful and valuable metals like zinc, gold, or silver, may also contain - as Wood mentioned - arsenic, lead, and other toxic heavy metals. The process of grinding and separation that allows for the extraction of the former also liberates the latter. Left in piles of derelict tailings, they present a much greater risk of toxicity than when they were underground. GNN recently reported on Trout Unlimited's activities contributing to the truly hair-raising numbers of central California coho salmon running up rivers along the Mendocino coast. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration had been contracting Trout Unlimited to remove barriers in the Navarro, Big, Garcia, and Noyo River watersheds for years leading up to the salmons' return.

Trout Unlimited brings reclamation and mining conference back to Durango. Diverse professionals, researchers, policymakers and others interested in water quality will gather in Durango on August 30 to September 2 to share perspectives and expertise about mining and its impacts. Trout Unlimited is bringing the semiannual Rocky Mountain Mining & Reclamation Conference back to Durango, for the first time since 2016. Trout Unlimited (TU), a national nonprofit focused on healthy rivers and clean water, is the conference's new host organization, after many years of supporting and participating in the event. Formerly named the San Juan Mining & Reclamation Conference, the gathering was created by nonprofits focused on watershed health in the San Juan Mountains, including Mountain Studies Institute and the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership. Past conferences have been in Leadville, Ouray, Silverton, Telluride, and other historic mining towns. As described on the RMMRC.org website, the aim is "to discuss the science and policy of preserving and restoring water quality at mine sites and mine lands remediation. The result is new partnerships on restoration and remediation projects, improved processes, and state-of-the-art best practices that foster both economic and environmental health." The last time the conference was in Durango in August 2016 was during the one-year anniversary of the Gold King spill. Approximately three million gallons of acidic water spilled into Cement Creek from a collapsed mine adit near Silverton and flowed into the Animas River, causing a major environmental emergency in 2015. While mine site reclamation was always difficult and costly before that incident, new mine reclamation projects to restore water quality became even more difficult to approve and fund. TU was the lead organization behind 2024 federal legislation, the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, that is enabling fifteen pilot mine reclamation projects to be implemented nationwide. This year's Mining & Reclamation Conference theme is "Rocky Mountain Resilience - Reclaim, Reprocess & Re-imagine Mining." The theme is aimed at producing discussion and innovation about the foundational connections of water and watersheds, and how people may be inspired by nature itself in their endeavors for extracting and re-using resources, akin to the planet's perpetual water cycle. The first evening of the conference on Sunday, Aug. 30 provides a meet and greet reception with a keynote address by Colorado School of Mines' Dr. Molly Morgan at The Powerhouse in Durango. The conference offers a full day of concurrent technical talks and evening exhibitor happy hour on Monday, Aug. 31 at Fort Lewis College. Then, Tuesday, Sept. 1 features field tours to historic mine sites and reclamation areas, and an evening reception and dinner at the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Museum. The conference finishes on Wednesday, Sept. 2 with a half day of technical talks and closing remarks at Fort Lewis College. Technical sessions will include presentations concerning mining, mine lands remediation, nonpoint-source pollution, and water quality, with the goal of improving mining and reclamation practices, and addressing water-quality impairment in the Rocky Mountain West. More information for the conference is available at www.rmmrc.org. Registration is at rmmrc.org/register.