RE: where is the news - owes 2 million dollar fine are you kidding me!?! The area of concern has been a historic mining area since the 1860's and contains naturally occuring arsenic -- Atlanta Gold did not "spill" anything. From ATG's response to the US court:
The Atlanta Project site is located in an area of historic mining dating from the 1860’s. This area of interest to past miners and to AGC contains naturally-occurring arsenic, the primary effluent of concern. The problem of arsenic entering the waterways is a result of water contacting the arsenic contained in the mineralized structure. AGC did not construct the Adit or cause the discharge that flows from the Adit. AGC has only conducted exploration and water treatment activities on site.
For more than five years, AGC has operated the PWTF at the site which treats water flowing from the historic mine adit to remove significant levels of naturally-occurring contaminants, including arsenic. The treatment has been successful in removing an estimated 85% of the contained arsenic from the water. Arsenic contamination is a common and difficult issue to deal with throughout the mid-western United States; nevertheless, AGC has made significant progress to improve the treatment process.
Subsequent to construction of the PWTF, permitted limits for effluents, including for arsenic, were significantly reduced. The permitted discharge limit for arsenic was reduced from 190 to 10 micrograms per liter (10 uq/L) or parts per billion. The treatment facility as constructed was not capable of consistently meeting these significantly lower limits. AGC subsequently modified its treatment regime, engaged consultants to evaluate various treatment options and submitted a Supplemental Plan of Operation (“SPOO”) to modify and improve the PWTF. AGC has been working closely with regulatory agencies over the past twelve months to evaluate alternative methods to decrease effluents and appears to be making progress towards an agreement on the appropriate method. Since the commencement of PWTF operations, AGC has been completely transparent with the regulators, filing all required discharge monitoring reports.
In its findings, the Court did not conclude that AGC caused pollutants to be discharged. The Court found that the levels of arsenic in the water discharge violated the effluent limit contained in the permit. No penalties have been assessed. The Company takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously. While the Company is disappointed with the Court’s ruling, it believes that the authorities will recognize AGC’s past and continuing efforts to remove arsenic. AGC’s plans for further improvement will be taken into account in the next stage of proceedings in which the Court will determine a penalty, if any, for the non-compliance. From operating the PWTF, AGC has gathered important scientific data to commit to environmental compliance for future planned operations.