Mining in this area presents serious environmental problems because the site is right next to the Green River, which is the headwaters for a watershed used for drinking. The area is also covered in old growth forest and there isn't much of that left after the eruption. Unfortunately, they are able to go in and do exploratory drilling without much environmental oversight. They drilled 15 holes with no environmental assessment. I couldn't believe that! In 2011, the company wanted to do more drilling but the GPTF filed suit in Federal District Court asking for a full review. The Forest Service pulled the permit and an environmental assessment was completed. However, there was no baseline water assessment completed because they said there were wells drilled in the 1970's that weren't affecting the river so that must mean it won't affect it now either. They didn't actually do a study, they are just speculating and saying that there must be a fault line there so the water isn't an issue. I was completely blown away by this. I cannot believe that they would allow such ridiculous reasoning for something so important. Thankfully, the GPTF is on top of them and they found a similar situation that occurred in Idaho where they said they can't do anything without a baseline, so they're using that example in court. Their argument is that the drilling and mining is not compatible with the primary purposes for which the land was acquired. Those purposes are: protecting the integrity of the Green River, the scenery of the Mt. St. Helens portal, outdoor recreation, habitat needs for local endangered species, and timber production and preservation of the watershed. Drilling in this area would use more than 5,000 gallons of water per day, introduce harmful chemicals, and destroy habitat. Not to mention, the area is generally unstable and there is still seismic activity. The GPTF is still fighting in court; they're waiting for them to decide whether they're going to pull their permit or continue this summer.
I couldn't believe that they would let companies drill in that area when it is still seismically active. I also couldn't believe that they were drilling without a baseline study. Then when she said the "study" was just speculation from the 1970's I was shocked! I don't understand how they get away with that. They don't actually know anything about the aquifer that they're drilling over and threatening the drinking water. I also thought it was strange that there's tons of pages missing from the original Duval reports in the 1960's-1970's. Something else seems to be going on. I think they should do another survey, especially becase they have new and advanced equipment now. I also think that they need an independent study to be done. I hope that they win the case and they don't end up mining there. Hopefully they can add the area to the National Monument and protect the Green River as well. I enjoyed this talk because she explained the topic very well and I learned a lot. I had no idea how much politics went into mining and the loopholes that exist within the process.
After our talk, we drove up to check out Mt. St. Helens. It was so much more beautiful than I ever imagined. When you hear about the eruption, you think it is going to be barren and ugly. There were still trees blown down from the explosion, but the vegetation is growing back in most places. My favorite park of Mt. St. Helens was Johnston's Ridge Observatory, where a scientist lost his life in an attempt to study the 1980 eruption. It is so close, you feel like you can almost touch the crater. The wildflowers growing were gorgeous. I wish we could have stayed there for longer; it was such a cool place.
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| A view of Mt. St. Helens Johnston Ridge Observatory |
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