The records show that at average flows, more than 50 million gallons of contaminated wastewater streams daily from the sites.
In many cases, it runs untreated into nearby groundwater, rivers and ponds — a roughly 20 million-gallon daily dose of pollution that could fill more than 2,000 tanker trucks.
The remainder of the waste is captured or treated in a costly effort that will need to carry on indefinitely, often with little hope for reimbursement.
The volumes vastly exceed the release from Colorado’s Gold King Mine disaster in 2015, when a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup crew inadvertently triggered the release of 3 million gallons of mustard-colored mine sludge, fouling rivers in three states.
At many mines, the pollution has continued decades after their enlistment in the federal Superfund cleanup program for the nation’s most hazardous sites, which faces sharp cuts under President Donald Trump.
Federal officials have raised fears that at least six of the sites examined by AP could have blowouts like the one at Gold King.
Some sites feature massive piles or impoundments of mine waste known as tailings.
A tailings dam collapse in Brazil last month killed at least 169 people and left 140 missing.
A similar 2014 accident in British Columbia swept millions of cubic yards of contaminated mud into a nearby lake, resulting in one of Canada’s worst environmental disasters.
In mountains outside the Montana capital of Helena, about 30 households can’t drink their tap water because groundwater was polluted by about 150 abandoned gold, lead and copper mines that operated from the 1870s until 1953.

The water is acidic or alkaline, highly turbid and hard.
Acharya Nagarjuna University, located between Vijayawada and Guntur, falls in the high growth corridor after the state capital was shifted from Hyderabad to Vijayawada-Guntur region.
“The physico-chemical analysis of groundwater quality in industrial areas of Guntur city reveals that groundwater is largely affected by various types of contaminants from industries.
Total dissolved solids, total hardness, total alkalinity and chlorides are very high in groundwater in peripheral regions around industrial locations in Guntur,” warns a research study by the department of environmental sciences, Acharya Nagarjuna University.
Samples were taken from three places for analysis – Autonagar, the Masjid Omar site near Autonagar and Acharya Nagarjuna University campus – to check if groundwater in industrial areas was fit for human use.
“The results revealed that the water quality failed to meet drinking water standards.
Expressing concern over high alkalinity or acidity of groundwater, the researchers said though this does not directly affect human health, it indicates “an alarming increase in ions in the groundwater through industrial leachate contamination.” The researchers called for an evaluation of the environmental impact of human activities and formulation of strategies for groundwater conservation on a high priority basis.
The water samples had a low pH value indicating acidity during the summer season.
“This indicates a future threat that might lead to the dissolution of more heavy metals, thus rendering the water unsuitable for potability,” the study said, while suggesting continuous monitoring.
The results indicated that chlorides ranged between 72 mg per litre at Acharya Nagarjuna University during summer and 6,000 mg per litre at Autonagar during monsoon.

“This is a necessary first step.
Sen. Gillibrand has focused on the issue of PFOS and PFOA, including pushing President Donald J. Trump’s administration to move forward with new kinds of firefighting foam that do not include the toxic chemicals.
“We don’t need to study the issue any longer to know that PFAS contamination shouldn’t be allowed in our drinking water,” she tweeted last week after the EPA announcement.
Sen. Schumer said in his letter to Mr. Wheeler that the delay in addressing the issue was concerning.
When ingested, they have been linked to kidney cancer, testicular cancer, pre-eclampsia, thyroid disease, developmental defects in fetuses, liver tissue damage and immune system impairments.
They were found in nonstick pans, furniture, cosmetics and household cleaners as well as in airport firefighting foam.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health said the EPA announcement changes nothing at the state level.
“Unfortunately, lack of federal leadership has further clarified that New York must continue to chart our own course to set protective levels for emerging contaminants in drinking water,” wrote Erin Silk in an email.
We are on target to adopt the most protective maximum contaminant levels for PFOA/PFOS, as well as recommending the first-ever level for 1,4-dioxane and expect to reach decisions for both soon following the rulemaking process.” In December, the state Drinking Water Quality Council put forward its recommendations of no more than 10 parts per trillion in drinking water for both PFOS and PFOA.
The Department of Health is now moving forward with these recommendations to establish its own legally enforceable limit.

According to The Water Project, 783 million people lack access to clean, safe water.
To put that number in perspective: one in nine people worldwide lack sufficient access to a clean water source.
Water scarcity in the United States may not be as severe as in some other nations, but that doesn’t mean that the increasing demand for potable water has left the country untouched.
To conserve water supplies and enhance water usage efficiency, many governments, organizations, and non-profits are joining forces to implement clean water initiatives, educate the public about water conservation, and enforce regulations on water usage by industrial processes.
Chemical manufacturers have teamed up with industrial plants and facilities to provide alternative solutions to the global water crisis, and they may not be what you’d expect.
These products also improve water clarity and aid in reducing or eliminating sludge contaminants.
The use of these chemicals in treatment plants makes for a more thorough and efficient wastewater treatment process, allowing industrial buildings to decrease their environmental footprint.
Expanding Global Wastewater Treatment Any opportunity to reuse or recycle water helps with water shortages, especially where wastewater is concerned.
This stands in stark contrast to figures from other areas.
Upper-middle income countries only treated 38% of their wastewater, and low-income nations treat just 8% of wastewater.

NEWYORK (WCBS 880) – Newark started handing out water filters across the city as it deals with elevated lead levels in the water supply, but one advocacy group says that isn’t enough.
Erik Olson, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, says it took a while for Newark to even admit it had a problem with lead in its water.
Olson says lead levels in the city are significant.
“The federal EPA’s drinking water standard (…) sets an action level of 15 parts per billion.
But Newark agreed to hand out filtration devices to at-risk households.
But Olson says it’s been a “haphazard program.” He says some households didn’t get their filters.
“We’ve asked the court to force the city to really go forward with a bottled water program,” he said.
The NRDC also wants Newark to start fortifying its water treatment while the city works on the longer-term goal of replacing its pipes.
A city spokesman says the filter program is working and that the NRDC is cherry-picking incidents.
“A huge swath of the city continues to have these lead contamination problems,” he said.

That lead can result in long term heatlh problems – so officials went on an education swing today.
Palmerton Area Junior High School was filled with community members Saturday afternoon who all share one thing in common – concern about lead exposure.
"We have young children and we know that lead can be hearmful especially as children are growing up," said Palmerton Resident, Clare Papay.
The Pennsylvania Department of health provided free screenings to the community..specifically looking for levels of lead in blood.
This follows a recent federal study showing the community may have been exposed to lead from air pollution in Palmerton.
"With them cleaning up and adding more and tossing the dirt around and ading this extra dirt in, I really wasn’t surpirsed," said Palmerton Resident, Lydia Shotwell.
Lydia Shotwell has been an area resident nearly her entire life.
She tells Eyewitness News she decided to come get her free screening for a number of reasons.
"Being pregnant is my number one reason why I came out.
According to the state department of health, it will take a week or two to get the results back.

He says it’s all a result of the water contamination caused by Cannon Air Force Base and the firefighting foam they used.
Last year, he found out the milk he was producing here was no good.
It saddens me to see my cows suffer, and what really scares me is the unknown of the health of our family,” said Schapp.
He’s currently dumping 15,000 gallons of milk a day, has had to let go of 40 employees, and may have to euthanize all of the cows if they can’t be sold for beef.
As far as efforts to work with Cannon Air Force Base, he says he’s reached out but they’ve refused to do anything.
"They have no solution.
Their solution is, ‘I hope it goes away.
‘” He’s now suing the chemical companies that produced the chemical foam, like 3M and Dupont.
Schaap says thankfully, local and county governments have been very supportive.
Schaap has also filed a tort claim against Cannon Air Force Base.

“I can’t sell the milk.
The Air Force knew they had contamination.
Home to 86,000 milk cows, it boasts 25 dairies that sell nearly 8 billion pounds of milk around the country.
The Air Force reported its findings to the New Mexico Environment Department, but not to the people living nearby.
When the Air Force finally tested Schaap’s water on Aug. 28, 2018, it was found to be so polluted that the military immediately began delivering bottled water to the family home.
One of Schaap’s wells tested at 12,000 parts per trillion, or171 times the EPA health advisory level of 70 ppt.
“That’s something we really have to be prepared for.” Udall, Heinrich and other New Mexico lawmakers have for months called on the Environmental Protection Agency to develop federal regulations and drinking water standards for PFOS and PFOA, the chemicals that are front and center in the Clovis crisis.
The EPA has failed for 20 years to regulate PFAS or any other new hazardous substance for drinking water, advocates have noted.
The Air Force says it is going above and beyond to address the contamination.
He says he can’t even sell his cows for dog food.

The SARW report has found that Kansanshi activities are polluting water and land, undermining food security.
First Quantum has failed to consider the environmental effects of its tailings dam expansion on water pollution and the destruction of community farms.
According to people in the community, the local authority and the Department of Water Affairs take samples year after year but have never shared the results with the people directly affected.
The people living around Kansanshi mine accuse the company of failing to provide adequate social amenities.
According to the company, these communities have received support in different sectors – health, education, entrepreneurship, and housing for displaced people, agricultural support, and water provision – as part of its corporate social responsibility (CSR) programme.
According to the report, if one has not visited Kansanshi’s social projects, and only reads the company’s sustainability reports, one will have the image of a company beyond reproach.
The building is of very poor quality and badly maintained.
The clinic has no toilet facilities, no running water, and looks like an abandoned place.
The report has conclusively found that the efforts that the company is making towards CSR are not transformative – they do not change the lives of the people but maintain people in poverty.
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"I had a day off work and thought it’d be a great day for a swim," Patrick Boyle told Newshub.
"But I guess not."
Waikato Regional Council is urging people to be cautious when using the river water after the muddy water poured in – although Contact Energy is adamant the discolouration is caused by "muddy water", and nothing more sinister.
The council says it is working with Contact Energy to determine the circumstances that caused the contamination.
Water supply intake has been shut down at Centennial Dr; this intake supplies both Centennial Dr and Rakaunui Rd, as well as the local golf club.
Caution is advised for landowners and businesses operating downstream.
A spokesperson for Contact Energy said it was investigating an incident that resulted in a slip, which flowed into a stream that feeds into the Waikato River.
The Huka Falls have turned brown as a result.
A spokesperson for Waikato Regional Council confirmed the substance had originated from a Contact Energy holding pool, and that workers were on site.
"It’s not effluent – it’s a discharge that has caused brown discolouration," they told Newshub.