No to Pebble Mine! (how much, live in, cost)

[warptman]

Tailings dam broke in British Columbia yesterday, it was a "earthen dam" that wasn't supposed to burst. Just like what they want in the Pebble Mine area.

Mount Polley Mine tailings water 'very close' to drinking quality, company says - British Columbia - CBC News

It's supposed to be a high red salmon run this year, too in Fraser River system.

[richelles]

There have been coal ash ponds with earthen dams break in both Tennessee and North Carolina recently and the history of earthen dams is they do fail quite regularly. The biggest problem I saw with earthen dams no matter where they were located is they plant them with grass, and in some cases trees, and for some reason the maintaince seems to be mowing the grass. The one that belonged to The Tennessee Valley Authority has cost over a billion dollars to clean up so far. It isn't certain how much it will cost to clean up the two breaks in North Carolina.

[Polish Hill Resident]

This is a problem that's only going to get worse as these dams age and we live in an era of partisan politics where any additional regulations are seen as an affront to an industry. Unfortunately I expect we will see a few more of these catastrophes at the very least before real changes are made. They are decomissioning one near the WV/OH/PA border that sits on a hill above the Ohio River. Although that won't be remediated for Lord knows how long...I wonder if it will break before that? It's a question of when, not if, and who's next?

[jabogitlu]

I lived close to the one in Tennessee when it broke. It was a HUGE mess and continues to be to this day... the environmental and property value damage has been catastrophic.