Environmentalists Urge Senate To Toughen ‘Good Sam’ Mine Cleanup Bill

Environmentalists are urging senators to strengthen pending legislation that seeks to ease potential environmental liabilities for Good Samaritans that volunteer to remediate abandoned hardrock mines, including providing a dedicated funding source, requiring EPA to write Superfund financial assurance rules, preserving citizen suit rights and ending liability waivers if water quality worsens. During a Sept. 29 joint hearing before the Senate environment committee’s waste and water subcommittees, Lauren Pagel, policy director at Earthworks, testified that while her group supports the bill’s...