Stimulus will clean up abandoned mines in West

"One of the nation's longest-running environmental eyesores is poised to become a critical jobs engine for the rural West," thanks to $105 million in the economic stimulus package, reports Scott Streater of Greenwire. "The Interior and Agriculture departments expect to set off a hiring boom among idled industry and agricultural workers whose charge will be to clean up thousands of abandoned hardrock mines that once formed the backbone of the region's economy, but whose greater legacy is one of toxic wastes and thousands of miles of contaminated rivers, creeks and streams."

The projects will be determined by the National Park Service, which will get $50 million; the Bureau of Land Management, which is getting $30 million; and the USDA's Forest Service, with $25 million. Never has so much money gone into hard-rock mine cleanup, and some question the efficacy of it, Streater reports. "Among the arguments made by critics is that such projects come with too many bureaucratic hurdles, including long lead times for environmental assessments and compliance with other provisions of federal law. But Interior Secretary Ken Salazar told reporters during a conference call last week that the Park Service and BLM will select projects whose environmental assessments have been completed." (Read more)

To keep track of stimulus spending, go to the government's www.recovery.gov site and the Stimulus Watchdog site of ProPublica, the "independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest."