Board tours Janklow mine disaster

With uncanny accuracy the late Gary Heckenlaible predicted the failure of the Gilt Edge Mine south of Deadwood now a Superfund site. He was also a strong champion for reproductive rights and a valiant opponent of the Dewey Burdock uranium mine.

Members of the South Dakota Board of Minerals and Environment took a tour of the Gilt Edge Gold Mine, which in 2000, was placed on the EPA Superfund list due to concerns over acidic water created by the exposure of sulfide rock during mining activities. Brohm Mining Company began large scale mining operations at Gilt Edge in 1986, despite potential acid mine drainage concerns. After filing for bankruptcy, Brohm abandoned the mine in 1999, turning over responsibility for the cleanup to the EPA.

Read more about Bill Janklow's toxic legacy here.

Brohm was an Australian company recruited by a Republican governor who gutted environmental protection in South Dakota.

The Board of Minerals and Environment is an arm of the South Dakota Republican Party who ceded regulatory authority to the US Environmental Protection Agency for uranium mining after the state's moocher state legislature realized there is no competent oversight from state agencies.

Under the General Mining Act of 1872 Canadian miners have carte blanche to rape the Black Hills, so they are.

Photo is of acid mine drainage on Minnesota Ridge in the northern Black Hills.