Though there is always a way for a win-win situation in the immediate aftermath in mining techno-fixes, LeCain points out that there will almost always be some secondary environmental issues that occur. (LeCain, pg.142, line6-8) In the case of the Ducktown smelter, mining engineers fixed the phosphorus-dioxide from burning the sulfur in the copper by converting the smoke into sulfuric acid for fertilizer. This seemed like such a great win, until years later the aftermath came through. Again, seen with the Anaconda Company in the Deer Lodge Valley case. The Anaconda company smelters released twenty tons of arsenic in the air above Deer Lodge, this amount of pollution killed a very large livestock in the area. LeCain told about how there could have been a way to prevent this disaster.
I believe that even with the waste that is produced with mining, obtaining copper and other minerals are very important to a growing nation. Though yes there will be problems that occur before, during, and after a mining process more good can come from the growth that is made with the materials. LeCain mentioned how that even if you fix the problem in the first place there will almost always be a secondary problem that will not be seen for time to come. Even with this being true many of those aftermath problems had been fixed soon after being found. The US has a superfund program to help with the cleanup of these sites as soon as they become prevalent and dangerous to the surrounding area.