The Environmental Disaster That is the Gold Industry

While the EPA struggles to remediate and restore almost countless mine sites in the United States, and while activists work to stem the tide of demand on the gold industry, efforts are underway to develop more open pit mines. Among the most controversial is the Pebble Mine, proposed for Alaska’s Bristol Bay region. The project, critics say, could destroy or seriously damage unspoiled wilderness, wildlife habitat, indigenous cultures and the region’s sockeye salmon fishery. Of the Pebble Mine, Septoff at Earthworks said, “There could not be a clearer example of a short-term profit gained at a long-term loss.”
http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/environmental-disaster-gold-industry-180949762/