Last week in Butte, Montana, about 10,000 snow geese mistook Berkeley Pit for a quiet lake. However, given that that pit is actually highly acidic and full of toxic chemicals like arsenic and sulfuric acid (an old part of an open copper mine), hundreds died.
The geese’s death has sparked outcry and urgent efforts from the local mining and environmental communities. There will be more birds and they need to be saved.
Thankfully, crews have been able to chase thousands of the geese off the water this week and the surviving geese have been gradually leaving the area. As of Wednesday Montana Resources, a mining company, estimates there are only around 50 live geese left.
Snow geese aren’t endangered, quite the opposite, but that doesn’t mean they should die horrible deaths in a lake of poison either. So, crews at the Montana mine are working on methods to get the remaining geese out of harm’s way, and on better strategies to prevent future mishaps.
Source: CNN
