Mine owners should be responsible for sealing these death traps when they leave a site. We see a similar thing with abandoned oil wells in Texas. I was reading about it while filling out my mail in ballot for the 2024 election, though the bigger problem with the wells is toxins spilling out rather than people going in. And the worst part is that once the mines/wells close, the locals are no longer benefitting from the economic boom, so their suffering is doubled.
A lot of these mines are leftover relics from the 1800s and early 1900s; the companies that dug them often not only don’t exist anymore, but the people who owned them are long since dead, as are their children and likely even grandchildren. If you go into the Sierras, the Rockies, or the Appalachians the mountains are just dotted with countless gold, silver, iron, and coal mines that have been abandoned for more than a century, possibly even two.
I hadn’t considered that. Then it should fall to the government to protect the people. Shame that people are being hired to clean up the mess instead of to prevent it, but i guess that’s par for the course here.
In the US regulations were passed that meant any mine after the 80’s had to be made safe instead of abandoned, and yes there are a lot still open from that time. but there are lots of modern companies trying and succeeding at dodging this by doing what the commenter said, “oops we transferred ownership to a failing company that went bankrupt how could we possibly clean it up when we don’t have the funds”
amhrancas 