⛏️Joseph Burnitz ⛏️

Vacate the illegal Biden-era preemptive veto against the $NAK Pebble Mine!!!

$NAK Pebble Mine!!!

@realDonaldTrump @SarahPalinUSA @PamBondi @SecretaryWright @SecretaryBurgum @DeptofWar @ENERGY When we make deals with China this is what we support. Why do the oppose our deregulation? Loss of Control! China’s Mining & Tailings: Environmental Damage Summary Massive pollution: China produces billions of tons of toxic tailings from iron, copper, gold, coal, and especially rare earth mining. Many tailings ponds are unlined and leaking heavy metals, acids, and radioactive waste into soil and rivers. Disasters & contamination: Repeated tailings dam leaks (like Yichun Luming in Heilongjiang) have polluted entire river systems. The Baotou rare earths tailings lake in Inner Mongolia is infamous for turning nearby farmland and water toxic. Poor regulation & weak enforcement: Despite having laws, local enforcement is lax and corruption or cost-cutting often override safety. Many sites ignore rules with little consequence. No real transparency: Environmental data from mines are often hidden or manipulated, and cleanup or rehabilitation is rare. Global ranking: China ranks 156th out of ~180 countries in Yale’s 2024 Environmental Performance Index — near the bottom worldwide. Ocean dumping: Officially banned, but illegal dumping and wastewater discharges into rivers and coastal waters are common; there’s no solid oversight or accountability. Refining & processing: China’s refining industry (especially for rare earths, lithium, and nickel) is among the dirtiest in the world, generating toxic sludge, acid runoff, and heavy metal residues with minimal treatment. China’s mining and refining sectors are among the world’s worst environmental offenders — plagued by toxic waste, poor oversight, and systemic pollution. Chinese companies are heavily involved in mining abroad, including “transition minerals” (copper, lithium, nickel, rare earths) in countries like Indonesia, Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tajikistan and Zambia. In many of these projects, the environmental and community risks are high: A report found 102 allegations of human-rights and environmental abuses linked to Chinese overseas mining investments during 2021-22. For example: in Tajikistan a Chinese mining/refining firm was found discharging wastewater into a river and causing water-shortages for locals. In Myanmar, high-pollution rare-earth mining has been outsourced from China into regions with weak governance and major environmental damage. The allegations covered 18 countries. The highest number of allegations were in Indonesia (27), followed by Peru (16), DRC (12), Myanmar (11), Zimbabwe (7). Over half of the allegations (~53%) involved environmental harms (water pollution, habitat loss, access to water) and a majority (~68%) involved human-rights issues such as community displacement or disregard of Indigenous/land rights. One focused case: In Kachin State, Myanmar, Chinese-linked rare-earth operations have expanded rapidly in poorly regulated zones; satellite imagery shows many mining and leaching operations. Weak governance, regulatory gaps and outsourcing The BHRRC analysis notes that China lacks strong extraterritorial due-diligence legislation (i.e., Chinese firms operating abroad are under-regulated in their home jurisdiction for human rights/ environmental practices) which leaves communities vulnerable. In the Myanmar example, many of the mining sites are in contested zones (ethnic militia-controlled, or outside strong state governance), so oversight is minimal and major environmental damage is occurring. Chinese mining ventures are also entangled in corruption, opaque financing, and illicit resource networks that erase accountability. Many firms use front companies and political ties to bypass laws, fueling local conflict and silencing opposition. This exploitation allows China to dominate global mineral refining while exporting pollution, human rights abuses, and environmental ruin to weaker nations. Pebble Mine!