At least 3,000 geese were killed by a toxic stew formed by a former copper mine in Butte, Montana last fall.
In a story reported by The Associated Press in Butte, Montana, last November around 3,000 geese died from a toxic stew formed by a former copper mine.
A large flock of geese were making a late migration over Montana, and were blown off course by a snowstorm. This sent the geese towards the abandoned copper mine. They landed into a 50bn-gallon pool, which was polluted heavily by acidic chemicals and metals. All of the geese died as a result of this.
The liquid is going to reach a critical level by 2023, and a plan is being finalized by environmental officials to keep it from contaminating Butte's groundwater and Silver Bow creek. The creek is a stream at the headwaters of the Columbia river basin. If the liquid exceeds 5,140ft, water from the pit and flooded mines under the city could escape into Silver Bow creek. If it goes even 50 feet higher than that, the pit and mine water would enter the city's groundwater.
One of Montana's Resources' environmental affairs managers said, "The recent mass goose deaths were an anomaly, and activists' attempt to tie them to a threat to Butte's human population is well overblown."
Overall, this can be a bit of a dicey situation. Hopefully the issue gets eradicated, and neither the people or animals will be affected anymore.
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