BOULDER, CO — Climate change phenomena — longer droughts interspersed by heavier storms — could cause more acidic leaching of metals from mine tailings into drinking water supplies in the American West, Discovery News reported February 17.
The article quoted Kirk Nordstrom of the US Geological Survey in Boulder, who looked at three sites where he found that acidity and dissolved metals “skyrocket” after it rains in an area that has been dry for months, the report said.
Continuous precipitation dilutes the “first flush” of surface contaminants into groundwater, but if rain stops for long periods, there’s less of a dilution effect when it does rain. As a result, more metals could enter water supplies, Nordstrom said in the story.
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