Matt Wuerker for August 12, 2015

Claiming that what was done was not illegal at the time is not an excuse nor does it dismiss obligations.

ORB is trying to repair the oil industries image by repairing damage done in the past.

You forget, that in a two party system, there can be only one truth. This is a binary system and everything is in terms of ones and zeros, right and wrong, white hats and black hats, never never a gray or complex explanation. From election to election, only one side can win and the other side’s voice must be ignored, no matter how they whine. Cooperation is for the weak willed, who are trying to curry favor with a large portion of the citizenry and would benefit some of the (shudder) others, rather than respectfully paying homage to their patrons. Political stories may seem like lies, but they are really scared parables that are a means to an end that fulfills the promise of the party’s ideology. While I personally appreciate your research and effort to enlighten, understand that there are some here who are honor bound not to look at ideas proscribed by their part’s ideology. To do so would mean that they would be shunned, called awful names, or seen as unfaithful to the cause. I belong to the 90% of voters who disapprove of congress and think the two party system has failed the people of the United States, so to be safe, please ignore my opinions or you will occur the wrath of at least one of the parties.

Thanks, Matt, for seeing the whole picture, and not taking the opportunity to make political points!

This incident, and Wuerker’s work is a perfect example of the environmental impacts of the 1872 Mining Act, that has damaged, destroyed, and given away, millions of acres of PUBLIC land. Yes, it was supposed to belong to the public, as in TAXPAYERS, but like the railroad grants, was given away to anyone wiling to steal it, damage it, and then leave it.

BTW: responsibility for safety on those abandoned mines falls on the states, not the feds. A California classic was a woman and her kids killed when she was driving off road and her Blazer went into an unmarked and abandoned shaft. This was NOT an unusual event.

Had a family go through the wire fence, broken down, at Swansea, standing at the edge of the crumbling shaft, pointed out the shaft was over 3,000 feet deep, but not to worry, if they fell in, they’d hit water at 1,000 feet and drown if the fall didn’t kill them. They stepped away and decided to heed the “Danger, KEEP OUT” sign after all.

There are MASSIVE dangers out there on these abandoned mines; spills of waste, shaft collapses, lots of ways to kill people and the land, and waters.

Then consider the TRILLIONS of dollars lost to taxpayers by giving the minerals away, the additional billions spent to clean up or install protections around mines, and there’s more than adequate reason to have done away with the 1872 Mining Act, decades ago!