On the other hand, I find it a bit puzzling. The toxic elements became a hazard only when exposed to air by man (mining). Consider a situation where an area such as this, full of toxic minerals and heavy metals, was exposed to air through an earthquake. Not the same thing, eh? So it would be classified as a volcanic caldera, or some such. Subtract the agency of man, and where is the story here?
The mine owner has the best solution ,, resume mining ... when the minerals are gone the problem is gone... when the mine was in operation they handled the sulfuric acid problem by bottling and selling it... seems like resuming production is the best solution.
‘unique strains of bacteria that live in a bed of pink slime that is part of a little-understood biochemical cycle that devours iron, produces sulfuric acid, and creates a nightmarish broth of copper, zinc and arsenic’
I saw that movie, Andromeda Strain.
Copper is over $4 a pound. If you could recover it just by dipping some iron into the water, wouldn’t people be doing that? Either the guy is lying or something else is going on.
I thought they were referring to my dog’s breath...
As another poster said, the mine owner has the right idea: resume mining and get the offending materials out where they can be put to good use.
The environment wins, the mine wins, and the fishies get to swim another day.