Navigating Liability Issues for Good Samaritan Clean-Ups

Over a hundred years of hardrock mining in the western United States has left a legacy of water and soil contamination that threaten the health of the land, water and communities throughout the region.  Today over 40% of western headwater streams are impacted by mine pollution, and coldwater fisheries are particularly at risk.  Since 2004, Trout Unlimited has been one of the conservation groups leading the way on Good Samaritan mine cleanups.  We believe that addressing pollution stemming from abandoned mines is one of the most important, yet least addressed problems facing western watersheds. However, Good Samaritan efforts to clean up abandoned mines have been stymied by liability issues that are often difficult to understand and even harder to overcome.  This presentation will discuss both Clean Water Act and CERCLA liability involved in mine cleanups, as well as potential solutions available to Good Samaritans who hope to conduct a mine cleanup.  We will highlight two of TU’s mine reclamation efforts in Colorado as case studies for how, and how not, to make cleanups successful.