Mining, environment can coexist in region

I would like to respond to Mary Crowe Costello’s letter (Daily Bee, July 31, 2012): “Complacency won’t keep our lake safe”.

It would seem that the more sensible course would be to push for new less polluting mining methods to extract needed minerals and provide quality paying jobs.

Maybe mine the ore and ship it elsewhere to extract the minerals. Require constant inspection, pollution not to exceed natural leaching with constant electronic monitoring, performance bonding insurance and restoration bonding to previous aesthetics.

We need to remember the Silver Valley pollution was from 100 years ago when pollution ignorance was common. We have learned a lot in all areas of science since then. As long as the choice remains only as Mary Costello presented, sooner or later the need of the metals will override the all-or-nothing mentality and then no new mining methods or lake protections will have been developed and a greater than necessary lake pollution will take place.

Remember the anti-bypass groups? How did that work out for them? Like the bypass, sooner or later Rock Creek mine is coming, so let’s concentrate on getting all the extras in environment protections we can.

Over time this lake is already being gradually polluted from the roadways, human habitation, septic tanks, storm sewers, sewage treatment plant(s), beach-goers, boat traffic and tourism, etc.

The only thing that stays the same is change. Let’s make improvements as change happens instead of getting run over by it, without our making any positive improvements.

LLOYD WALLACE

Hope