Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) closed the Berkeley Pit copper mine on Earth Day 1982 and immediately shut off the pumps that had kept groundwater out of the massive excavation, beginning the pit’s transformation into one of the most toxic bodies of water in North America. The corporate …
Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO)Anaconda Copper Mining CompanyEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)Montana Department of Environmental QualityMontana Resourcesenvironmental-damagesuperfundmining-industrycorporate-externalitiestoxic-contamination+2 more
On September 3, 1973, a fire destroys the baghouse pollution control system at the Bunker Hill lead smelter in Kellogg, Idaho—then the largest smelting facility in the world. In a secret board meeting, Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp., the facility’s owner, makes a calculated decision to …
Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp.Bunker Hill Mining & Metallurgical ComplexIdaho Department of HealthU.S. Environmental Protection Agencycorporate-crimeenvironmental-destructionmining-industrypublic-healthcorporate-negligence
The Amalgamated Copper Company (later Anaconda Copper Mining Company) executed an extraordinary act of corporate extortion by shutting down all mining operations across Montana, deliberately putting 15,000 workers out of work to force the state legislature to pass laws favorable to the company. This …
Amalgamated Copper CompanyAnaconda Copper Mining CompanyF. Augustus HeinzeJudge William ClancyGovernor Joseph Toole+1 morecorporate-powerinstitutional-captureeconomic-extortionlegislative-corruptioncorporate-personhood+2 more
Sheriff James Martin and 150 armed deputies open fire on 300-400 unarmed striking coal miners marching to support a newly formed United Mine Workers union at Calvin Pardee’s Lattimer mine near Hazleton, Pennsylvania. The peaceful demonstration consists mostly of Polish, Slovak, Lithuanian, and …
Sheriff James MartinLuzerne County deputiesUnited Mine WorkersImmigrant minersPennsylvania National Guard+1 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agepolice-violenceimmigrationmining-industry+1 more
Gold miners in Cripple Creek, Colorado, launch a strike after mine owners announce they will either extend the workday from eight to ten hours for the same $3 daily wage or maintain eight-hour days while reducing wages to $2.50 per day. Western Federation of Miners president John Calderwood issues a …
Western Federation of MinersGovernor Davis Hanson WaiteColorado State MilitiaJohn CalderwoodMine owners+1 morelabor-rightsgilded-agemining-industrystate-interventionunion-victory+1 more
Hard rock miners establish the Western Federation of Miners (WFM) in Butte, Montana, as a direct response to the catastrophic defeat of the 1892 Coeur d’Alene strike in Idaho and the brutal military repression that followed. The WFM emerges from miners’ recognition that existing labor …
Western Federation of MinersButte minersCoeur d'Alene strikersMining industry workerslabor-organizinggilded-agemining-industrymilitant-unionismwfm
Violent confrontation erupts between striking silver and lead miners and company guards at mines in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, after union workers discover a Pinkerton agent has infiltrated their organization and routinely provided confidential union information to mine owners. The violence follows …
Western Federation of MinersPinkerton Detective AgencyIdaho National GuardU.S. ArmyGeneral J.M. Schofield+2 morelabor-suppressiongilded-agemining-industrymartial-lawfederal-intervention+1 more