Whether it’s one dead or 10,000, this is tragic…
Up to 10,000 snow geese have died after a snowstorm forced them to land in a lake filled with with toxic heavy metals and sulphuric acid.
The lake has formed in an old open pit mine in Butte, Montana, where a flock of geese landed in it and were overcome by the toxic water lurking within.
The upkeep of the lake is the responsibility of Montana Resources and Atlantic Richfield, but access to the lake is limited and has made maintenance difficult for the authorities.
A hazing scheme which produces loud noises to scare birds away had recently been introduced in the area.
The current number of dead geese is not confirmed as of yet, with Montana Resources and the Environmental Protection Agency using drones to predict the figure of up to 10,000. An official number is expected in the coming days.
Mark Thompson, environmental affairs manager for mine company Montana Resources, said witnesses described the pit as like “700 acres of white birds” according to the Guardian.
“I can’t underscore enough how many birds were in the Butte area that night,” Thompson said. “Numbers beyond anything we’ve ever experienced in our 21 years of monitoring by several orders of magnitude.”
He added that workers did “incredible things to save a lot of birds and they really put their heart and soul behind it.”
Montana Resources have collected 20 of the dead birds for analysis and have launched an investigation to see whether more large scale migrations of birds will happen in the area.
The EPA could fine Montana Resources if investigations show it wasn’t sticking to the hazing scheme.
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