Industry didn't "mishandle things". Industry had the mine, that is true.
Yes, because it was discharging half a million gallons of contaminated water a day, not counting groundwater contamination.
Industry was following EPA directions to seal the mine.
Yes,
because they hadn't voluntarily stopped their polluting. They were being forced by ...
EPA ... to stop it. Left to their own devices, they'd have continued to let all that contamination flow freely.
While some of the water was a result of the mining the majority was rainwater and groundwater that collected in the mine.
Whoa...SO unpredictable!
It's amazing, but never before in the history of the world has groundwater and rainwater been present at a site. Never has a sulfide mine had to deal with these issues. This just magically appeared here, brought in by some dastardly EPA criminal, no doubt.
The industry had a plan to properly handle the water but the EPA wouldn't let them.
Oh, a plan.
They hadn't done it on their own, but then they came up with "a plan".
The EPA paid a consultant who told them if they did what they wanted to do it would cause the uncontrolled release of water laden with heavy metals.
Agreed, it was a dumb plan. They should have gotten a head measurement in advance. But like the anti-cop activists who get upset when a fleeing felon is killed, there would have been no problem if the "solid citizens" hadn't acted in a manner that required the authorities being brought in!
The EPA ignored their consultant and ordered a contractor to do what they knew would pollute the river. They were told it would happen and it did.
No, they underestimated the amount of contamination that had backed up in the mine. Yes, private industry had contaminated the groundwater even more than known.
Don't try to point the finger at anyone but the EPA.
Oh, yeah. EPA just went and created a contaminated site and then released it.
Or just maybe,
private industry created a contaminated site, and EPA goofed in their attempt to rectify what private industry had messed up.
If private industry had been responsible, they would have set up treatment and mitigation operations.
By the way, it was the state Department of Natural Resources Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety that had requested EPA come in.
I have a lot of problems with the EPA, and I'm not saying that there should be no liability for a cop who goofs in attempting to enforce the law. But blaming the cop for the crime is ridiculous.
