There are hundreds of thousands of abandoned hard rock mining sites or features scattered throughout the West, and federal and state officials are nowhere close to identifying those that potentially pose a hazard to drinking water.
The Deseret News reports some people fear it is only a matter of time that the legacy waste from hard rock mining in the canyons will filter into the creeks at such levels that drinking water is compromised beyond the ability for treatment plants to handle, whether it is the water itself or washed down sediment.