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.

Using data from public records requests and independent researchers, the AP examined 43 mining sites under federal oversight, some containing dozens or even hundreds of individual mines.
The records show that at average flows, more than 50 million gallons (189 million liters) 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 (76-million-liter) 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.
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.
But even short of a calamitous accident, many mines pose the chronic problem of relentless pollution.
Tainted wells 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.
Most are controlled by the Bureau of Land Management, which under Trump is seeking to consolidate mine cleanups with another program and cut their combined 2019 spending from $35 million to $13 million.

When Fantastic Caverns went public with concerns about chemical pollution from a Springfield industrial site, property owners with wells nearby flooded state regulators with requests for free water well testing.
The first 35 free water well samples have been tested, and DNR reports that five of those had the chemical, though at levels below the EPA’s maximum allowable limit for human exposure in drinking water.
"The department is mailing sampling results letters for the first 35 wells sampled to property owners this week," said Valerie Wilder, DNR Superfund section chief.
DNR so far has collected samples from 145 private drinking water wells; seven wells were sampled on Nov. 15; 28 wells on Nov. 19; and 110 wells Dec. 3-4.
"The Department will be resampling any well with a detection of TCE in January to verify the results," Quinn added.
Before these latest water well tests, DNR previously tested more than 70 private drinking water wells in the area and found 13 with detectable levels of TCE, including one well that showed TCE slightly above the EPA’s Maximum Contaminant Level of five parts per billion.
According to DNR, a public well system known as the County Squire Village well (a public well serving 189 people located 1.5 miles east of the Litton site) had a detection of TCE in 2010 of 0.5 parts per billion TCE, and then again in 2016 of 0.71 parts per billion.
Both levels are below EPA’s limit for drinking water and there has been no treatment system added to remove the contaminant.
However, Fantastic Caverns has begun drilling a series of vent holes near the show cave in hopes of catching TCE vapors before they reach the public areas.
Quinn, at DNR, said carbon filtration systems and reverse osmosis systems are effective at removing volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including TCE, from drinking water.

Areas of Cheltenham have been without water or experiencing low pressure for hours after two water pipes were confirmed to have burst.
Severn Trent sent officers to investigate the incident and confirmed at 3.17pm that a pipe had burst.
However, just before 4pm, they revealed a second pipe had burst in the area which would also need to be fixed.
"We’re working hard at the moment to get water supplies back on for those customers affected by the burst water pipe in Cheltenham."
Severn Trent added: "We’re moving water around our network of pipes to bring supplies back into the area, so we hope that everyone will have water again in the next couple of hours."
They have confirmed that ‘vulnerable’ customers that they are aware of will be receiving bottled water.
The roads have also been affected in the area and motorists were warned to take care or avoid altogether as water from the burst pipe sat on the road.
The A40 and Benhall Ave was partially blocked, rendering the bus lane on the A40 unusable.
Motorists had to take care when using the traffic lights on the roundabout; driving through the inches of water.
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A new report published by several state environmental groups shows severe pollution of groundwater at nearly every known coal ash storage site in Illinois.
Coal industry data on coal ash contamination was made public for the first time this year under federal coal ash rules.
“The only thing separating those ash dumps from the rivers and lakes we treasure is a thin embankment of earth.” Groundwater tests required by federal coal ash rules Federal coal ash rules require groundwater testing at active sites still accepting waste.
There are more than 1,000 coal ash sites in the U.S., and at least 83 sites in Illinois.
“What this report shows is the need for Illinois to step up and do something about coal ash,” Rehn said, “especially as we approach an era in which these power plants are closing.” Coal ash regulation stalled in Illinois Federal coal ash rules set standards for active sites.
But environmental groups say Illinois has let power companies off the hook, allowing them to close leaking coal ash sites by merely capping the ponds while the ash continues to pollute water resources.
Many coal ash ponds have already been closed.
Closure of ash ponds means the power company either removes the ash, or caps the ponds and leaves them in place.
“For the vast majority of these ash dumps, the owners have proposed to close them in place, leaving them sitting in or near groundwater.” The environmental groups want a requirement for removing ash from all sites contaminating groundwater.
But the agency said it is now “committed to public notice and public hearings for actions related to the Vermilion Power Station.” The environmental groups say they want more than just an airing of public concerns.

FLINT, MI — Results from new sampling for PFAS in Flint show four additional locations at the former Buick City factory are contaminated, and one residence near a second closed General Motors facility has the chemicals in its well.
"We have some … preliminary results and they’re pretty high," said Grant Trigger, Michigan cleanup manager for RACER Trust, about Buick City.
There’s no indication the contamination is reaching drinking water supplies in the city, Trigger said.
Results are still being reviewed, Trigger said, even as RACER plans a pair of community meetings in November to discuss PFAS on its sites and answer questions.
The Buick City property had been a factory site for a century before it moved into RACER’s control for cleanup and redevelopment after the GM bankruptcy.
Cleanup is ongoing, and parcels have been sold to new industrial users.
The new locations at Buick City with PFOS are: The old GM wastewater treatment plant on Stewart Avenue, at 4,800 ppt.
RACER is collecting more samples near the storm sewer, with results expected back in the first week of November.
Four additional monitoring wells will be added to the property starting this week, allowing more groundwater tests.
Homes on Stanley Road near the long-closed landfill on the property were tested for PFAS, with one reaching a combined 69 ppt for both PFOS and PFOA.

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Moorestown officials say they are speaking with the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) who are cleaning up a superfund site in Cinnaminson in an effort to determine if it is the origin of the township’s ongoing water issues.
The EPA is currently working on the cleanup of a superfund site that covers about 400 acres of land in Cinnaminson and Delran, according to the EPA’s website.
The township has been dealing with trichloroethylene (TCE), as well as trichloropropane 123 (1,2,3, TCP) contamination in the drinking water since 2013.
At the Moorestown Council meeting on Sept. 24, Councilman Mike Locatell said the township was looking into the possibility that TCP 123 originated from the site, but township officials have since said that is not the focus of the negotiations.
Petriello asked.
Petriello said that the drinking water has been an issue in Moorestown for several years.
Resident Mike Babcock has asked council several times during that time to investigate the source of the contamination.
He had asked for an RFQ to go out to hire someone to investigate the source of the contamination, saying the RFQ wouldn’t cost township taxpayers anything, but it was important to find those responsible and recover money the township has lost.
"Just because you tell other council members doesn’t mean the information is going out," Petriello said.
Locatell said.

The city has identified three locations in Cadillac that still are using water in an area known to have been polluted by the Kysor Industrial Corporation, which began operations in 1959 as an automotive parts manufacturing plant.
The Cadillac City Council on Monday approved an ordinance that will require these locations to hook into the city’s water supply rather than use their own wells.
Contaminants and known carcinogens discovered as a result of Kysor’s activities include trichloroethane, acetone, chloroform, cyanide, tetrachloroethene, trichloroethene and chromium, among others.
Cadillac Director of Utilities Jeffrey Dietlin said when the contamination was discovered several decades ago, many residents and businesses that had been using their own wells hooked into the city’s water supply.
With the new ordinance passed by council, the city will pay to hook up the remaining locations still using their own wells into the city water supply.
Use of water from any well in the affected area now is prohibited unless an exception is granted by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Dietlin said the EPA contacted him a couple years ago to ask the city to impose additional restrictions following the discovery of large amounts of lead in the Flint water system.
Once the city hooks up the three locations and properly caps off their wells, the resident will be responsible for paying their monthly water bill.
Affected groundwater, which was discovered in the 1980s, has migrated north from the Cadillac industrial park to a residential area in Haring Township.
Haring Township previously enacted restrictions in compliance with EPA standards for the site.

ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. – After years of drinking, cooking and even bathing with bottled water, residents near a coal ash site in Rowan County are finally using county water.
Rowan County purchases the water from the city of Salisbury and then sells it to neighbors.
“We have to pay the middle man now, which is county commissioners, and it is an outrageous amount,” resident Bonita Queen said.
County manager Aaron Church said the rate is essential to provide the service and he said the county isn’t turning a profit.
“There is no wiggle room,” Church said.
“We’re required by state law to pay for enterprise funds with enterprise fund money.
We cannot take money out of general fund and prop up the water fund.
"You can’t compare Rowan County’s water with Belmont because Rowan has a new system,” Church said.
Church said staff members met with neighbors in two public meetings last year to let them know what the rates would likely be.
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The chemicals have been found in groundwater, surface water bodies like lakes and rivers, as well as the Great Lakes — and in drinking water pulled from each source type.
The DEQ found PFAS contamination at the old nuclear B-52 base near the shore of Lake Huron in 2010.
The soil and groundwater is contaminated by total PFAS levels as high as 1.2 million-ppt.
In 2015, Michigan’s first activated carbon pump-and-treat system was built at a base fire training area.
HSRUA water is considered the safe alternative supply for polluted wells near Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, which has contaminated the Au Sable River as it enters Lake Huron north of Tawas.
The highest total PFAS level detected is 52-ppt.
The DEQ says PFAS has been found in site groundwater and soils, and in the river nearby.
Local wastewater treatment plant effluents have tested positive for low levels.
Total PFAS levels in treated drinking water from the lake range from 2.71- to 4.77-ppt.
In June 2017, the creek tested for PFOS at 920-ppt.