The Berkeley Pit

Without copper, we would not able to man many things. There would be no television, no chromebooks, no power lines, etc. To extract this valuable element, massive open pit mines were dug. However, what happens when you deplete all of the copper from the pit and its shafts?

Butte Montana was once a leading producer of copper, with its massive open pit mine named the Berkeley Pit. But, the mine had to shut down in 1980. Originally, there were pumps to pump out water, but it became to expensive to maintain them when the mine was no longer operating. So, the pumps were turned off, and since then the pit has filled billions of gallons of water. However, this is no ordinary water. It has been intoxicated by much of the mineral and industrial residue left in the mine. The Berkeley Pit is filled with toxic water.

You might think that it will be fine if you just stay away from the toxic soup, but birds don’t have that logic. Ever since 1995, a Montana Waterfowl Deterrent program has been working. The program was started when 395 snow geese were tragically killed when they landed in, and drank out of the Berkeley Pit. The situation has become even more dire when 3,000 snow geese sadly died in the same way, and the methods already in place weren’t enough to keep them away.

But, a plan has been submitted to the Deterrent Program that called for noise emitting tripods, drones, and a laser beam “net” across the pit. One problem for the drones was power. One thing that the program had tried earlier was a battery powered boat, but the battery died and the boat is still floating dormantly in the lake. So, the new drones are gas powered, solving this problem and also adding more noise. Hopefully, if these measures are approved, another bird massacre can be prevented.

I chose this story because it struck me as more interesting and unusual. I found it interesting because of the measures that they have to go through to keep the birds out of the pit. To learn more, here is a link to the article.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/cannons-lasers-drones-hope-save-birds-toxic-pit-45861255