I’m Tom Dwyer,
Some disasters are unavoidable. When Mt. St. Helens erupted in the eighties all we could do is ride it out and rebuild.
The avoidable disaster Mt. St. Helens faces today could also yield a major impact to the area.
Right now, a company is petitioning to explore for copper and gold near the mountain. If they succeed, another company will build a three thousand acre open pit cyanide leach mine, visible from the volcano summit and astride the water supply of many Washington communities.
Under an eighteen seventy two law, no royalties need be paid. And, while remediation is required after mining, the profits dwarf the penalties so there’s little reason to stay and cleanup after the mining is done.
This atrocity can be stopped… IF we act now. Follow the links on our website to connect with the Gifford Pinchot Task Force, the group organized to keep St. Helens as we love it.
By phone at (five oh three, two three oh, twenty three hundred) or online at (tom dwyer dot com) we’re Tom Dwyer Automotive Services… trusted to keep your vehicles, safe, breakdown-free and operating at their best!
(c)2012 Tom Dwyer Automotive Services
UPDATE 6/12/13- There are a couple events put on this summer by the GP Task Force that we should keep you up to date on… On June 22, get together with them at the East Fork Cellars in Ridgefield, WA, for an evening of wine, seafood, and live music. If you can’t make it then, then you might want to catch up with them on September 28 at Lucy’s Garden in Ridgefield for the King and Queen of the Forest event. Either (or both) evenings would be an opportunity help the environment and fun at the same time! Full details on both events are available at the GP Task Force website at http://www.gptaskforce.org/.
UPDATE 12/17/12- One of the many things that makes this kind of mining possible is a 140-year-old law that does not require companies mining “hard rock” minerals to pay royalties. Maybe, just maybe, there’ll be an effort to re-write this antiquated law. Rep. Raul Grijalva and Sen. Tom Udall are working to bring mining reform to the next Congress. Catch up on all the details here.
UPDATE 12/7/12- On December 4, 2012, The U.S. Forest Service authorized mineral prospecting by Ascot Mining. This doesn’t greenlight the project just yet, but the Bureau of Land Management could make its decision as soon as next week. They have the final say. Here are some useful links…
“Forest Service backs drilling near Mount St. Helens” by Eric Florip in The Columbian, 12/4/12
“Feds approve exploratory drilling near Mount St. Helens” by Natalie St. John in The Daily News, 12/4/12
And here is a press release from the Gifford-Pinchot task force.
