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- juneof44, on 10/09/2008, -0/+53This is the Berkeley Pit.
Google Maps: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=B ...
Wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit - weiwuwei, on 10/08/2008, -2/+39Looks like "The Scream"
- roctimo, on 10/09/2008, -1/+33I don't know what they're talking about...that does not look super fun to clean up.
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+32Waste of Toxic Mining Pit? Looks like a perfectly good use of a Toxic Mining Pit to me, seeing as they're using it as a Mining Pit for Toxins 'n such
- Paulish, on 10/08/2008, -12/+38I'd hit it.
- afflusso, on 10/09/2008, -1/+24I read this as they are shooting the toxic waste into space.
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -0/+16So it's a giant hole in Butte? A Buttehole if you will.
- RealmDown, on 10/09/2008, -2/+18Man is the most vicious, backstabbing, warring creature on this planet, but boy can we dig a hole when we want to.
- lonesomewolf, on 10/09/2008, -1/+16"The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, USA, about a mile and a half wide and about 1,780 feet (540 m) deep. It contains about 900 feet (270 m) of water that is heavily acidic, with a pH level of 2.5, and laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.
The mine was opened in 1955 and operated by Anaconda Copper and later by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), until its closure in 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps at the bottom were removed, and groundwater sourced from the surrounding aquifers soon filled the pit to the natural groundwater level.
This has presented an environmental problem in that the water, with dissolved oxygen, allows pyrite and sulfide minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid. The acidic water in the pit can carry a heavy load of dissolved heavy metals. The water contains so much dissolved metal (up to 187 ppm Cu) that "mining" of the water is actually done.
In the 1990s plans were devised for solving the groundwater problem. The Berkeley Pit has since become one of the largest Superfund sites.
The pit is currently a tourist attraction, with an adjacent gift shop. A $2 admission fee is charged to go out on the viewing platform." - wikipedia - mraymond80, on 10/09/2008, -0/+12Pretty frightening seeing something like that so close to a town...
- evilpolitians, on 10/09/2008, -1/+12Should be the site of the next AIG retreat.
- screwy3333, on 10/09/2008, -6/+16hot dog down a hallway
- gl77, on 10/09/2008, -0/+8from the wikipedia article....
"The pit is currently a tourist attraction, with an adjacent gift shop. A $2 admission fee is charged to go out on the viewing platform."
free enterprise indeed. - m0zzie, on 10/09/2008, -1/+9Massive full fish-eye shot of it: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23 ...
for a rough idea on the size of this thing.. check out the power lines in the background.. visible just above (and partially in line with) the barbed wire fence in the foreground. - richdrogpa, on 10/08/2008, -2/+10Is that Butte, MT???
- skabyss, on 10/08/2008, -0/+6Holy *****
- feshmania, on 10/09/2008, -2/+8Reminds me of my ex-girlfriend. It always sounded like she was getting a round of applause when she walked...
- MisterEX, on 10/09/2008, -1/+7"The pit is currently a tourist attraction, with an adjacent gift shop. A $2 admission fee is charged to go out on the viewing platform." [wiki]
"Well, kids, that was Mt. Rushmore. Next stop the highly acidic Berkeley Pit!! Yay!" - inajeep, on 10/09/2008, -1/+7I didn't realize how close it was to the town.
- roctimo, on 10/09/2008, -4/+9Toothpick in a volcano.
- lebatte, on 10/09/2008, -0/+4It's called human civilization.
- trafficlight, on 10/09/2008, -0/+4It's amazingly toxic. You don't want that water to even touch your skin.
Like edebolt says above, there was a flock of geese that landing there in the mid 90s. A vast majority of them died within a few days.
There is a guy who sole job is to keep birds of landing on the lake. He has a shotgun and other noise making items that he scares them away with. If the birds still don't leave he has a little dingy that he rides out on to scare the birds off. It's affectionately called the Berkeley Navy. - ghank, on 10/09/2008, -0/+4The mine could be 100 miles from any town and still contaminate water sources.
- Godlike, on 10/09/2008, -1/+5http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit
It looks like a zit on the face of Montana. - irishmcsg2, on 10/09/2008, -0/+4Can't work a mine with out underpaid manual laborers
- Insomnya3AM, on 10/09/2008, -0/+4From all the pollution, that guy is destined to evolve into a bad guy on Captain Planet.
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -0/+3Thats why it's called a "mining town".
- manicleek, on 10/09/2008, -0/+3A bit more f the story here
http://www.damninteresting.com/?p=961 - trafficlight, on 10/09/2008, -0/+3Yes that is.
- ToastedZergling, on 10/09/2008, -0/+3Maybe if you're really high / twirled perception, Maine was 5x larger, Florida didn't exist, then yeah, I can kinda see it, but it's still a stretch and irrelevant.
- Notasheeple, on 10/09/2008, -0/+3Is it just me or does it look like the waste is flowing under the burm, causing that streak toward the water.......
- Firax, on 10/09/2008, -0/+2That's what I thought too... I guess it's another "natural phenomenon" - just like global warming :)
- mraymond80, on 10/09/2008, -0/+2Normally mines are located a bit outside of the town/city limits or in pretty remote areas, this one is located right on the edge of town... so it's definitely frightening being so close, able to contaminate water sources, etc...
- pyromonkey, on 10/09/2008, -1/+3Yay for being born in Butte Montana.
- HtomSirveaux, on 10/09/2008, -0/+2Actually it has very little to do with the previous mine activity other than they put a huge hole in the ground. They didn't leave a bunch of solvents or other chemicals behind. I'm sure that was all cleaned up when it closed. Rather, it's simply acid mine drainage on a large scale that is being left to fester and percolate i.e contaminate the rest of the groundwater in the area until the EPA can deal with it.
Acid Mine Drainage:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_mine_drainage
It's a largely persistent problem that the general public is rather unaware of. - joot2112, on 10/09/2008, -3/+5You might want to get that checked out.
- EatSleepJeep, on 10/09/2008, -0/+2The streets in town are named after the metals. Mercury St., Platinum St., Gold St., Copper St, Silver, St., Aluminum St., etc. Nice.
Also from the wiki:
New fungal and bacterial species have been found to have adapted to the harsh conditions inside the pit. Intense competition for the limited resources caused these species to evolve the production of highly toxic compounds to improve survivability; natural products such as Berkeleydione, berkeleytrione [2] and Berkeley acid [3] have been isolated from these organisms which show selective activity against cancer cell lines.
It IS Springfield. - numb, on 10/09/2008, -1/+3I read it as they were wasting a perfectly good toxic mining pit.
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+4A giant hole in Butte Montana eh? Why not just call it the big buttehole.
- rancidpony, on 10/09/2008, -1/+3Extremophiles rock!
"It contains about 900 feet (270 m) of water that is heavily acidic, with a pH level of 2.5, and laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals such as arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid."
"Extremophiles
New fungal and bacterial species have been found to have adapted to the harsh conditions inside the pit. Intense competition for the limited resources caused these species to evolve the production of highly toxic compounds to improve survivability; natural products such as Berkeleydione, berkeleytrione [2] and Berkeley acid [3] have been isolated from these organisms which show selective activity against cancer cell lines."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit#Extremop ... - jrook85, on 10/09/2008, -1/+2Ever stop to think that the town is there because of the mine? Sometimes it's pretty frightening to THINK.
- inactive, on 10/09/2008, -2/+3how many dead bodies are in that thing i wonder
- nasdbroker73, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1looks like Wasilla
- devmaster, on 10/09/2008, -0/+1join the club
- Recidivus, on 10/09/2008, -1/+2They don't just scoop copper out of the ground and ship it as-is, there is a whole process to strip the metal from the dirt/rock. Different chemicals are used (depending on soil, resource type, etc) to get the absolute most out of it. 2 that I can come up with right away are cyanide and mercury. Neither of those is particularly healthy.
Also, the water/soil wasn't that toxic before. A company came in, and messed around with it until it became that way. - azreal156, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1I heard they found extremophile bacteria that might benefit the medical field.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit#Extremop ... - Blitzenn, on 10/10/2008, -0/+1The local university said the bird deaths were not related to any exposure to toxins and the birds showed no evidence of toxic exposure. Those two statements, from an independent non-government source make me believe its more like local hysteria. People are pissed the mine closed and want to blame all thier troubles on it. Happens over and over. Seems the more likely story here.
- coheedcollapse, on 10/09/2008, -0/+1Or Centralia, PA, the city that the look for Silent Hill was based off of. They had coal mines that were under the city that were accidentally ignited in the process of burning garbage. Since then, the whole city has been completely abandoned because wooden structures spontaneously ignite due to the extreme heat of the ground in some areas.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centralia,_Pennsylvan ... - OropheR, on 10/11/2008, -0/+1Could those who made it , clean it now ?
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