One question I had, separate from the EPA’s arrogance about the incident and incompetence in causing and handling it, was this:
If these pools are so dangerous, and near rivers, why haven’t they been remediated through some sort of disposal or burial in place, or reinforced so that containment breach is less likely? Shouldn’t that sort of precautionary surveillance and action be part of the EPA’s job? And, a more important part than unrealistic ozone, CO2, or wood stove regulations?
IMHO, whether or not a person supposedly is a true believer in climate change is more important in the EPA right now than someone’s willingness to investigate existing problems. Climate Change is highly abstract, waste problems aren’t as abstract.
For the third time. They plugged the lower mine and pulled the rocks out of the entry to the upper mine. While they may have planed to use a settlement pond, there was no pond. This is now a river coming out of that hillside.