Justin Hayes says he would rather not experience this kind of déjà vu.
“Having a mining company upstream flaunting environmental laws and discharging arsenic into the Boise River is really not acceptable,” says the Idaho Conservation League Program Director.
ICL won a lawsuit against the Atlanta Gold company last week for polluting a tributary of the Middle Fork of the Boise River with arsenic. It’s the second time in five years the group has sued the company for letting arsenic seep into the water. Hayes says the ecologic and economic value of the Boise River is too great to risk.
“I don’t know what the future of the Atlanta Gold company is, but they have no future at all in Idaho if they cannot begin to comply with our environmental laws.”
The historic Atlanta Gold mine is located on the edge of the Sawtooth Mountains and is not operational.
Atlanta Gold was ordered to pay a $2 million fine in 2012 under terms of the first lawsuit. The company has until the end of next August to fully comply with the Clean Water Act.
Find reporter Frankie Barnhill on Twitter @FABarnhill
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