Environment

Here Comes The Sludge

Sorry. That was an awful headline.

Not quite as awful as this:

The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Clean Water Act does not prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from allowing mining waste to be dumped into rivers, streams and other waters.

In a 6-to-3 decision that drew fierce criticism from environmentalists, the court said the Corps of Engineers had the authority to grant Coeur Alaska Inc., a gold mining company, permission to dump the waste known as slurry into Lower Slate Lake, north of Juneau. [...]

The corps permit, issued in 2005, said that 4.5 million tons of waste from the Kensington mine could be dumped into the lake even though it would obliterate life in its waters. The corps found that disposing of it there was less environmentally damaging than other options.

"Less environmentally damaging than other options?" It's simply remarkable how a corporation can be allowed to function even though its entire business model relies upon choosing how much nature it intends to destroy in the process.