Gilt Edge cleanup bill awaiting president’s signature

President Biden is expected to sign a bill this week that would allow the state of South Dakota to purchase 266 acres of federal land at the Gilt Edge Mine Superfund Site, a move that would allow the state to take necessary measures to clean up the land.

Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-S.D. introduced the Gilt Edge Mine Conveyance Act that has now passed the House and Senate, which will allow the state to purchase the land from the U.S. Forest Service. That would give the state primary authority in the superfund cleanup efforts, for which the state is federally responsible. As long as the U.S. Forest Service owns the land, the state cannot effectively conduct its cleanup efforts, because states cannot manage or control federal property.

“For years this site has been owned and managed by a patchwork quilt of state and federal governments. My bill will make it easier for the State and EPA to remediate the site by getting the Forest Service out of the middle,” Johnson said. “This is not pristine wilderness, but of course we want to get it back to an environmental asset. This is now a checkerboard of competing government ownership and roles. You’ve got the forest service, which owns much of this and you’ve got the state of South Dakota, which owns some of the rest of it. You’ve got the EPA, which for 20 years has been doing remediation work on the water and you’ve got the state of South Dakota, which has other environmental cleanup and management responsibilities on this site.”

“They don’t need to play a role here. The work of the state will be easier if they have one less federal partner to work with and navigate. Sometimes my colleagues are concerned if we’re going to take a federal asset and give it to the state. Will this be a loss of important federal access opportunities for the public? People are not going hiking here. This is not wildlife habitat. You will not have bison nestle in this leach pond here. We have real environmental work to do here. It is important that we do it in the most effective way. This bill would advance that cause.”

When the Brohm Mining Company, which operated Gilt Edge, went bankrupt in 1999 it left the state with 150 million gallons of heavy metal-laden water in three open pits, an un-reclaimed heap leach pad, and a 60-acre waste rock dump. According to previous Pioneer reports, the problem at the site is the massive quantities of sulfide rock that were exposed during the gold mining process. When oxygen reacts with sulfide, acid is produced. The acid also causes more contamination by dissolving heavy metals.

For the last 20 years, the Environmental Protection Agency has been working to treat the contaminated water, covering the area with plastic to prevent water from leaching into the land, and recovering it with grass.

Under federal law, in the absence of the original mining entity the taxpayers are responsible for footing the bill for the land cleanup. The state of South Dakota is responsible for 10% of the EPA costs for the water treatment. Once that cleanup is complete, the state will be responsible for 100% of the operation and maintenance costs necessary to collect and treat the water at the site in perpetuity.

Therefore, Johnson said, to move forward, the state must have primary ownership authority to continue the cleanup.

Johnson’s Gilt Edge Mine Conveyance Act requires a land appraisal for the 266 acres, that will determine fair market value for the sale. State officials with the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources were not available for comment by press time about how funds to purchase the land would be appropriated, or about the cost of the land.

Following a complex hearing process, where mining opponents voiced concern about acid mine drainage, the state Board of Minerals and Environment granted Brohm the permit to mine at Gilt Edge. At the time, reports say nobody realized the potential disaster that would occur. In 2020 the EPA declared the area a superfund site.

Since Brohm Mining Company left the Gilt Edge Mine as a superfund site, state officials have said they have greatly strengthened bond requirements, in order to ensure future mining companies do not abandon their reclamation responsibilities.