Whether mining can be done without harm is a question posed by Maine environmentalists.
Jym St. Pierre, director of Restore: The North Woods, a group that works to preserve large areas of forest in Maine, notes that mining produces an array of toxic byproducts, such as mercury, arsenic, cyanide and sulfuric acid, which can pollute surface and groundwater.
"This is a very high-risk way to get jobs," he said.
Mining operations conducted here, in a wet region that gets 45 inches of precipitation a year and is dotted with small lakes and ponds, would represent "a completely different environment than what has been done in the western U.S.," he said.
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