[20150827]IN10348_Gold King矿山泄漏可能会重新引起人们对“好心人”立法的兴趣.pdf

Gold King Mine Spill May Renew Interest in Good Samaritan LegislationAugust 27, 2015 (IN10348) | |Claudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy (ccopelandcrs.loc.gov, 7-7227)On August 5, an accidental spill from the Gold King Mine, a long-abandoned gold mine site in Colorado, released an estimated 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage (AMD) wastewater into a tributary of the Animas River. From there, the contaminated wastewater migrated downstream to the San Juan River into New Mexico, Utah, and tribal lands. (For background, see CRS Insight IN10341, Gold King Mine Spill: EPA Response and Related Issues.)Water samples taken in days immediately after the mine blowout indicated elevated levels of some metals (copper, lead, and manganese), although concentrations diminished to pre-incident levels as the plume moved downstream. Nevertheless, the spill led to widespread concern about impacts on water quality, public health, agriculture, fish, and wildlife. It also raised concern about other inactive or abandoned hardrock mine (IAM) sites on public and private lands in the United States. The precise number is unknown, but GAO estimated that there may be more than 1