After more than two decades of Advocacy, Trout Unlimited celebrated legislative reforms to facilitate abandoned mine restoration projects. And then this fall, the organization celebrated the first permitted project under that 2024 Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, and now begins work at Bodie Mine to restore streambanks and remediate toxic pollution on Washington state’s Toroda Creek.
“This is a landmark moment — and proof that our Good Samaritan law is working. After more than 25 years of hard work to break down the legal barriers standing in the way of abandoned mine cleanup, we are finally seeing volunteers get to work restoring polluted lands and waters without taking on liability for contamination they didn’t cause,” said Senator Martin Heinrich. “The first Good Samaritan permit has now been issued, and this is just the beginning. We can now use this new tool to clean up more abandoned mines, improve water quality, and make communities across New Mexico and the West safer and healthier.”
Thousands of abandoned mines scatter the United States, each posing their unique slate of ecologic impacts and restoration challenges. Without intervention and remediation, these mines would continue to pollute waterways, leach chemicals, and threaten fisheries for centuries into the future. Intervening to clean up these mines was not the problem, hundreds of non-profit organizations stood at the ready–it was the legal liabilities that largely prevented widespread reclamation efforts. Congress acted in 2024 with the passage of the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act, which protects non-liable volunteers, such as non-profits and local governments, to clean up historic, abandoned mine sites without fear of facing massive environmental liability.
The Good Samaritan Act passed with broad bipartisan support after a 20-year campaign led by Trout Unlimited. The law makes it easier for state agencies and other groups to clean up abandoned mines, which pollute thousands of rivers and streams across the country. Previously, groups volunteering to clean up these abandoned mines could face the same legal liability as the original polluters, creating major permitting and financial barriers. The new law establishes a pilot program providing limited liability protections for up to 15 low-risk cleanup projects.
The importance of this legislation is difficult to overstate, and its champions have worked for years to fix this bottleneck, paving the way for widespread reclamation efforts. “This law simply does not happen without the bipartisan work of Senators Heinrich and Risch. Senator Heinrich, in particular, was a force of nature in his advocacy and effectiveness. Anyone who cares about clean water owes him a debt of gratitude,” said Chris Wood, President and CEO of Trout Unlimited.
Trout Unlimited’s project will improve water quality in the creek and improve the health of the broader watershed, part of the Columbia River Basin.
“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, a longtime leader in abandoned mine remediation. “Bully for the EPA recognizing that fact and authorizing the first abandoned mine cleanup under the Good Samaritan Remediation of Abandoned Hardrock Mines Act of 2024. 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.”
