The toxic pit with a $3 admission fee
VloĆŸit
- Äas pĆidĂĄn 15. 09. 2019
- The Berkeley Pit, in Butte, Montana, was once the richest hill on Earth: the Anaconda Copper Mine. Now: it's not all that rich, and it's not much of a hill. Instead, it's a toxic pit filled with sulfuric acid.
Thanks to the Montana Resources team: www.montanaresources.com/
REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING:
"10,000 miles of tunnels": mtstandard.com/news/local/new...
"35,000 people a year": www.travelandleisure.com/trip...]
Protective Water Level, and the details of the underground water that I didn't have time to go into: pitwatch.org/protective-water...
The first treated water being removed from the pit: www.mtpr.org/post/treated-wat...
Edited by Tom Fuller
đ„ MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
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I couldn't find a way to mention this in the video but: next door to the pit, there's still an active copper mine! Of course, they're being a bit more careful with the environment there.
Why does this say this comment was posted a month ago? I saw this on another video too.
Because they are still mining, no doubt.
Video upload today, this comment is from last month. What gives?
hey tom! i love your videos. youâre one of the most talented creators of the modern age, maybe throughout the history of film. your amazing places series is going to inform a generation.
I know that sulfuric acid is used in a lot of different industries. You'd think that one of those industries could set up shot in this town and tap that resource until it's no longer an issue. Cheap, ready to use acid for all your industrial needs.
âWhat do you do for a living?â
âI donât shoot birds.â
"Cool, uh... me neither?"
@@Saucy-ws6jc and then you would get fired after 2 days because there are plenty of people capable of that task.
For REAL!!
@@Saucy-ws6jc Hey, there's no bullets in Skyrim...
Iâd love that job.
"So what's your job?"
"I am a professonial scarecrow for a toxic pit"
I feel like people would think you were a bouncer at a particularly nasty bar, until you explained.
Honestly a dream job
so... a Facebook comment moderator
my tools are explosives and assault rifles..
@@natebizu an AR15 isnt an assault rifle. assault rifles are select fire meaning they can fire in full auto. i know you were joking, but terms matter
"Caution: Cannon on Timer" is a sign you don't see every day.
Wonder how often the automated cannon hits birds...
@@Kaotiqua it does not shoot any projectils - it is only the "kapow"-sound that comes out of it, far as i understand
@@rumpelpumpel7687 ye theyâre just air cannons, they have the same thing on crop farms
The warning sign is probably there cause a shockwave like that is harmful if you are standing in front of it
I want the same sign for my front door
Surprisingly I'd imagine a 5.56mm high velocity round hitting the water nearby where I was swimming would motivate me to leave too.
You know what's funny it's toxic due to copper and these guys are firing copper and lead rounds into it making it even more toxic that's some low IQ right there
Looks like they were using an ar-10 so more likely it was the much larger .308 or even a 6.5 creedmor.
@@TheFish711 I'm not sure upping the caliber would up my motivation.
@@bigolmemoryhole6944 harder bullet harder dip
@@bigolmemoryhole6944 what if we up it to tankshell size?
So what do you do for a living?
"I almost shoot birds."
Someone beat you to this comment. Try something a little more original next time.
@ Jedian who are you the CZcams police
@@du4lstrik3 I almost make original comments.
That would be a great job, for like a week.
Jedian
Alright CZcams police, donât got anything better to do?
Scaring birds away by shooting a lake with high-powered rifles is the most American form of wildlife conservation
Seriously...
Super Smash Dolls well it works
God bless
This comment makes no sense on any level. I cannot tell if you are being serious...perhaps that is the point.
@@geraldhenrickson7472 What
There were several studies done that showed charging admission increased the number of visitors and as well as improving the behavior of those visitors vs a open to all or "honor" system. Weird people will pay to behave but if it's free they tend o be more destructive. Humans are strange.
where there is the illusion of order, people will naturally adhere to that order
Maybe make the entrance free then so tourists will destroy the toxic pit that nobody wants to exist anyway đ€
@@nadyarek ok how exactly do you expect touristâs to fix thatâŠ
I think it has more to do with the quality of the people willing to pay vs ones entering for free than the psychology of paying for something
I'd imagine it's the psychology of it being a privileged, not a right. If you have to pay to use it, it's not yours and can be taken away. If you can just waltz in there, it's public property and you have a right to be in there.
Tom: "And the $3 dollar admission? That's capitalism."
Me (an American): "Naw, that's a deal right there!"
And that's Capitalism!
I don't see what's so bad about charging people $3 too see it. Let's be serious if they didn't let people in in a controlled manner some stupid people would just sneak in plus the money can help prevent it from getting worse. As long as they don't start charging extra and begin maintaining it ;) I say good for them
@@UAVwaffle PLus I'm guessing that much of the money goes towards purification efforts, and because America, the price tag brings people in because it's not worth seeing if it's free
me (an European),Jump in it ,yankee!
@@T.2.S.A. Me (an American): After you, Red Coat!
"What d'you do with this gun?"
"Protecting birds"
"... by shooting toward hunters?"
"By shooting toward birds"
Guns solve every problem. That and duct tape.
@@StolasXB "oh the kids are bad at math? Just shoot them lmao"
Hugo 57k OR duct tape them to chairs and force them to learn. I included duct tape for a reason. Becides, if you kill all the stupid kids, then 100% of kids population will be smart.
00justSomeAccount00 theyre not getting guns theyre making nuclear warheads and attempting to hold the world hostage. We can easily deal with them making AKâs, not so much for WMDâs.
PepiOnLine Oh no, a random person on the internet doesnt like me? so sad.
"Sir, why do you need TWO semi-automatic rifles at a bird sanctuary?"
"For when you absolutely, positively have to scare off 30-50 geese in 3-5 minutes."
AR-15 rifles being put to good use.
@TATTOO VAMPIRE1966 what is it referencing?
@@kevinmoore4887 They look like they're in 7,62Ă51 mm (.308), so that would be an AR-10 clone. Also, 5,56Ă45 (.223) is relatively high-powered, but then every rifle, save .22's and specialised varmint rifles, is relatively high powered, so labelling a 5,56 "high powered" would be too much.
Other than that, I agree, saving birds is more useful to the general good than sport. Everyone needs a hobby, though, don't they?
In all reality most likely it's for constant coverage. The gun has to be cleaned at some point. That and really big flocks...
@@vaclav_fejt Looking at the mag wells, looks like a 308 (7.62) and a 223 (5.56). Someone said one rifle is a Ruger Precision bolt rifle (308 on left.) Looks like an AR15 style on the right.
4:30 to be clear... You don't need admission to see the pit. The fee is for the little area that overlooks the pit with little facts and such there. You can absolutely see the pit for free.
... I mean, it's a mile wide!
How much is it to go for a swim?
@@beardedchimp ah it typically can cost from some of your health to your entire life depending on how many hours you plan to stay for
I live in Idaho, and during a school trip down to Yellowstone we stopped here. It's quite the experience hearing the little jolly voiceover from the speakers talking happily about this disgusting pit while you stand there in horror.
"The Mile wide, incredibly toxic pit" - but enough about Twitter.
Truth!
I thought it was the League of Legends community =x
Amusingly, both are toxic for the same reason, in that they're full of various vitriols.
@@harrietriddle2197 I love this pun. I didn't even know until I checked but it's the most pure form of pun.
For those who don't understand:
vitriol
/ËvÉȘtrÉȘÉl/
noun
1.
bitter criticism or malice.
"her mother's sudden gush of fury and vitriol"
2.
ARCHAICâąLITERARY
sulphuric acid.
"it was as if his words were spraying vitriol on her face"
See also Tinder.
As an American: I must marvel that our solution to protecting birds is guns.
@@jackchilders3028 The sound bombs are done with propane but they use AR-15s to scare the birds if the sound bombs don't work.
Please impart your better method? How then would you do it, on a lake one mile wide?
@@jackchilders3028 I'll tell you hwat.
Guns are simple small-projectile launchers, useful for many things
Its a very practical solution.
Not everyone gains all their knowledge about guns from action movies or the news.
Some people actually use them.
"The go-to is high-powered rifles"
Of course it is.
I was having a hard time opening the pickle jar yesterday, so I went with the obvious go-to, a high-powered rifle.
The high powered jobbies are the ones with synthetic materials right?
đșđČ
I couldn't find my car keys, so I went with the obvious go-to, a high-powered rifle.
@@jamesbelshan8839 If you shoot near the pickle jar, it will scare it open.
I have family up in Montana and have driven past here several times and thought it was just water. Now I know that itâs where Dasani is sourced
Person 1: This pool is toxic, nobody will ever come here.
Person 2: Charge people $3 to go to it, the illusion of an affordable attraction entices people who otherwise wouldnât care.
@@abigailr1207 That water isn't clear, its tinted a dull green, you can't see in
@@writwits5826 Looks like any other lake I've been to that isn't toxic. Or at the very least it is hard to tell by visual inspection.
I think that probably a better indicator is if you can see any plant life or wildlife in the lake in general. No fish and birds? That's a bad sign!
3 dollars is probably just enough to deter rabble-rousers, more so than some signs would I bet
There just forgot to punp the water.
Very bold of him to say âTourists will go anywhereâ with all those tourists around
And CZcamsrs will watch anything
Most people live here. If you ever come to butte do an underground mine tour
As a tourist, I agree with sentence "tourist will go anywhere"
tourists are a different species of human
source: i live in a tourist area
Those tourists are a dangerous breed, I'm surprised they didn't rip him apart for saying that.
For those interested, a pH of 2 is essentially lemon juice. it would be irritating quickly if you were swimming in it and it can definitely dissolve calcium carbonate. but that is not instant skin-melting stuff either.
The pH isn't what makes it dangerous though. The pH causes other heavy metals, arsenic and other poisonous minerals to dissolve.
most lemon juice isnât toxic
â@@jessebeegee still wouldnt recommend swimming in it
Dude imagine going to university for 5 years and then ending up just making sure birds don't land on a lake.
I hope they get paid well, at least
Tbh there are worse jobs
I mean, I went to uni for 6 years and I'd dig it
@@CallMeNIBSI think the point is that we don't want more of these pits
@@smalltime0 :D
So, where do I apply for the "Shooting high powered rifles close to birds for their own good" job?
What a dream job, birdwatching and occasionally shooting rifles all day.
At that pit homie
I know right?? Sounds great haha
Exactly,sweet ass guns,no one on your ass,and you're actually helping animals not killing them. Perfect job,bet it pays well.
@@northide8785 Sounds fun but boring
What? Only $3!? I paid $60 to see a toxic pit and it's called Rainbow Six: Siege!
Ha should have waited a couple years for even more toxicity at a reduced price, would have gotten more for your money
Should've waited for a sale
@@AdityaSingh-lp5rp i actually got it for like $20 a couple years ago it's comedy
dog that judges you if you want the real toxic pit then try for honor
It's 20$ but your not wrong
I know I'm nearly two years two late, but have lived in a village outside Butte for most my life, my high school chem teacher used to be the head chemist at the berkeley pit, and my grandfather used to be a miner ther.; I just think its really neat that you stopped by our weird town, and the horrible historical scar in it we created, so thanks for having it on your show. Also, you should research the anaconda smelting tower, its one of the worlds largest freestanding stonemasonry structures and it is in the next town over; could be an interesting sight if you ever visit the area again.
Anaconda is taller than the Washington Monument and is a State park, well worth the stop.
Never heard a Montanan describe their origin as a village, so I'm curious where you're from. I'd also say "we" didn't create the pit, it was rich industrialists making bad decisions they couldn't fix decades ago. I know you didn't mean anything by using "we" but it is an important distinction.
@@SuperCatman "We" is more accurate. The "rich industrialists" were providing capital to produce an important material we all need and use, and were providing jobs as well. Everyone was involved, from the industrialists all the way down to the consumer.
@@raydunakin @raydunakin no, sorry, I don't agree. environmental destruction was a decision made by rich industrialists. the workers followed their plans because the alternative was sleeping on the streets. the consumers would not have generally known what went into it (and the vast majority was shipped out of Montana, the subject here, anyway), so I cannot blame Montanans for this. participating in the economic system that objectively exists is not an endorsement of it.
So you're telling me there's thousands of miles of abandoned mine shafts at least partially flooded with acid and bird corpses?
That's both a truly metal idea for a video game level and my ideal summer home.
When you put it that way it reminds me of that game the iron lung that blew up a couple months ago
"Tourist will go anywhere interesting" so accurate
As Tom does
I mean, the literal definition of tourism..
God: creates humans
Humans: send bread to space
God: you weren't suppose to do that...
My town in Northern Illinois has an old house that has storage rooms and hidey-holes from the underground railroad era. We had to tell several Chicago tourism companies to stop sending tourists out here because a.) we didn't have the hotel infrastructure at the time (and this was pre AirB&B) and b.) somebody lived at the house in question, which made for awkward conversations of "No, you cannot tour my house, scaring my entire family"
The St.Charles area has a lot of really neat history Between the McCormick, Norris, and Baker families, but no, these companies wanted to see some stone walls where former slaves fleeing the south would hide when southern hunters would come knocking.
That said, look up the McCormick b17 story, it's hilarious.
Come to Missouri to check out our Nuclear Waste Adventure Trail.
We have had an alkaline lake.
We have had an acidic lake.
So tom, when shall you visit a perfectly neutral lake?
I believe Creater Lake is the quintisential lake for water quality...I think.
People bring this comment to the top
"The most neutral lake in the world". Get on it Tom, the people have spoken!
Connect them with two canals!
@@SimonClarkstone Surely just one canal would do?
Thanks Tom. I just visited this place⊠all the way from Ontario, Canada
Edit: Itâs now 5 bucks to get in.
âA few hardy bugsâ
I just imagine 3 bugs walking around the surface treating it as itâs own kingdom
Tom Scott, 2015: "Here's a blue lake that's highly alkaline"
Tom Scott, 2019: "Here's a blue lake that's highly acidic"
I knew I remembered him talking about another lake that was really wonky on the PH scale. Thanks for confirming that.
I have a solution! Mix them!
Tom Scott, 2023: "Here's the most neutral blue lake in the world"
@@bbgun061 Ha, "solution".
@@imveryangryitsnotbutter if you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate
i just wanna dip a copper and nickel plate in it and make the biggest 1volt battery ever
Would that even be possible ?
â@@knowledgenuke6029 Well that is sorta how car batteries work. Would make for an interesting science experiment.
I wonder... If you got enough old coins from the US Mint, could you actually generate enough power to run the water treatment plant?
Now that would be *BIG BRAIN.*
The lake is grounded though, youd need to insulate the bottom from the ground presumably.
@@b_mb4948 The power generation is more effective the smaller the distance between the plates, but that's not even the problem, beside having to somehow manage howevermany thousands or even tens of thousands of metal plates in open water you would also have to ignore the fact that the acid is leeching even MORE metals into the water!
tom has 2 videos on giant lakes in pits that used to be mines, one incredibly acidic, and one incredibly basic.
the basic one has a few idiots per year who figure out why swimming there is a bad idea, the acid one has an admission fee.
I'd like to see the water from one lake pumped into the other. That would be fun.
@@reddwarfer999 actually that could be a solution for both problems cuz they would cancel each other out
Mt Morgan, Queensland, Australia, has a pit much like this one. It is a former open pit gold mine. As the mine aged, gold processing waste began to be pumped into the pit. Nowadays the pit (a mile deep) is full of toxic waste that has at times leaked into the nearby river making it uninhabitable for wildlife. And yes, birds die if they land on or attempt to drink the water.
"we are over 99% effective"
1% of the birds get shot by accident
Nah about 1% of the birds are actually just going there to die
No...better watch the video again.
"by accident" (guys just got bored)
@@geraldhenrickson7472 It's a joke! Just like the other comment that you didn't get.
Yep. Odds are they use the cheapest ammo they can get since little precision is needed which means that when aiming at a spot ~18" in front of the bird with bullet that could have a +- 24" variance off ideal at 500+ yards means there is a small percentage of shots that will hit one.
That and some birds are just old and or weak and will die there of natural causes regardless.
Best job ever. "what do you do for a living?" "I shoot at birds =D" "WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!" "To make sure they don't die đ"
"Wait... but you just said you shoot AT birds so that they don't die?" "Correct" "But doesn't shooting the birds kill them?" "No no, you see I shoot AT the birds, not AT the birds." "O_O that doesn't make any sense"
@@dustysparks
I shoot AT the birds, I don't shoot the birds!
Some rich people owned a mining company and made tons of money. Now the public budget has to pay for a mile wide toxic pit not to get out of control...
would have happened if it was a government operated mining company. this is not a fault of capitalism its simply a fault of people being people. we did a thing, didn't understand the consequences of said thing, and now have to pay for it.
@@Critical3rror If the government had profited it would be easier to pay...
The owners made money but don't care to give it all back to fix the mess they made...
Understandable, but systematically wrong.
@@raimonestanol8234 Also, stealing someone else's comment.
"You think this is bad ? The Soviet Union dumped active nuclear generators into the Arctic Ocean where they continue to leach radiation. The Chinese government today permits open ocean dumping of its garbage. Thats where 90% of the plastic in the ocean comes from. This pit was mined in the 1800's. A time when we knew little about pollution."
Thou art a double dumbass.
@@gregdaweson4657 Soviet and Chinese dictatorships are precisely a good example of why we need to avoid too much power in too few hands...
Think of how we allow the rich to hide behind overseas trust funds, and invest through BlackRock and the like...
They are still the ones deciding to push for an opioid epidemic for example, but then take no consequences...
If companies were run democratically by their workers none of this would happen
Capitalism baby!
For real many of Tom's videos is humans fixing the long term consequences of their mistakes damn
Can't believe they lowered the price for E3 tickets!
underrated
Ok this one is good
league tournament
lmfao
Now soon to be Blizzcon tickets
fun fact: it is also the only superfund toxic cleanup site that makes a profit from selling the stuff they are cleaning out of the water. - this information courtesy of the local mining museum.
One man's toxic waste dump is another man's high quality conductor.
I was actually wondering if they couldn't like concentrate the acid and use it in the industry
(looks at a pit of toxic waste)
"Now THAT'S a tourist attraction!"
I love that they have a bird spotting book in the little shack...
'Ooh look, that's a rare one... PREPARE THE METHANE CANNONS. SOMEBODY GET MY M4A1!'
*propane cannon. They ain't launching farts at them.
Did anyone else read that with the voice of Gary Brannan in their mind?
@@uggooga1437 This is where they're going wrong.
Jake Richardson
Propane, not methane, propane is a much better gas, and it comes with accessories.
@@allthenewsordeath5772 my home made methane will also come with extras.
"Caution: Cannon on Timer"
Custom-sign-maker: "Eh?"
I laughed so hard my housemate woke up.
Hol up
Probably had to remake it after clarifying that they did mean "cannon" rather than the camera brand.
Iâve seen stranger. Though that one would be up there.
$3 admission fee is an excellent way to help maintain the barriers that need to be around anything that toxic.
My mom was raised in Butte. That mine was part of our family. So cool to see you did a bit on to it.
Part of our family worked there as well. I had uncles that worked at the pit. Great paying jobs and dangerous. My dad would fix the tires on those huge monster dump trucks. There was a viewing platform even back in the 70s where you could look below and see the trucks working below and see how deep it was. It shocked me on a return visit a few years ago to see it filled with water.
Maybe open pit mining wasnât the best way to do things but it was a grand sight to see when it was still a massive functioning pit.
"We are actually 99% effective"
1% of birds: Why do I hear boss music
bubbles: _drops_ _the_ _bass_
Mr. SisterFister we donât do that here
I'm gonna fight'em off...
Birds are a victim of their own stupidity. They'll sit in acid water for *18 hours* and then just die.
The 1% is when they 'miss' with the rifle.
Iâm American and honestly when you said it was $3 I was shocked at how cheap it was. Fully expected $12-$21 and was still ready to go check it out.
i grew up in an iron mining town in western australia! the major open mine in the area is still active and pumping out water faster than it can fill up but i remember being taught that once abandoned and filled with water it would become toxic. really cool to learn about something very similar
What ore they mining?
It's really commendable how much effort they put into saving wildlife.
Thank you for bringing awareness to this! I've called Montana home for my whole life and it still astounds me that Butte residents are proud of this thing. My father worked for 30 years trying to clean up mining waste across the state and it is an uphill battle. People often refuse to believe how bad these contaminants actually are and so actions that need to be taken are not. Awareness and education is key.
Butte VS everyone
Butte citzens really aren't proud they view it as a fault of the company that owned the pit before closing. This was really a story of bone headedness and greed. It's like watching a freak show you dont go for the best intentions you go to see something bizarre.
I am just wondering, how does this affect the rain in Butte Montana? Does the rain gets toxic there as well?
@LICKHER&STICKHERINTHEPINK &OTHERPLACES yes, but the copper mining company in question is leaving near permanent damage to the ecosystem. Normal copper mining, plastic production, and metal production leaves temporary damage to the ecosystem, as long as something is done about it. Now to your credit, 99% of the time nothing is done about it but atleast there is an option to fix it. The copper mining in montana is bad because all the work done to help it can only prevent it from becoming worse, not actually stopping the issue at hand.
@LICKHER&STICKHERINTHEPINK &OTHERPLACES So we shouldn't do anything to prevent it? Even though we can?
Well at least it's not a load of arsenic dust that could kill everyone on the planet, this time
*This comment posted by macro #1763901*
Just scrolling down the comments far enough meeting you randomly :D
How many buttons did you press to type this?
Actually there is a lot of arsenic in the water and a lot more in the sediment at the bottom of this pit.
TASTY!!
Well what else can we use arsenic for or turn it into?
This is the pinnacle of humanity, taking pictures of the environment you messed up and the waste that you created
This gives of major "Welcome to Night Vale"-vibes
Went to high school in Bozeman and every time we played Butte in football we would chant âdirty water!â Across the field to them on account of the disgusting Berkeley Pit. This tradition has existed since the beginning of time as far as I know
Which makes it so much better when they beat your asses
To what tune?
@@noesunyoutuber7680 it probably goes something like DIR-TEE WAH-TER DUN DUN DUN DUN DUN. Americans really only have one chant and its to that tune
@@fancypants5782 God, that gave me a good laugh
Go griz đ
Hopefully the $3 fee helps pay for the cleanup of the area and doesnt just go into someones pocket
Well it goes into people's pockets as wages. That's always a gray and muddy area.
@@macmcleod1188 As long as those people make money cleaning the area, it's expected they receive wages
obviously it pays for the bullets of the fortunate, uh i mean charitable people who get to shoot at the birds
@@FOLIPE yes but it still goes into their pocket and it's a muddy area because in many cases money like this goes to pay above-market wages, usually to "management" or the owner of the business.
You must be new here. Here being any capitalist country.
my senior paper advisor in college wrote an entire book on this pit and on bute in general! very cool to see this
Glad you visited my home state once. I've been by that pit quite a few times.
The pit's water contains so much metal, you can almost hear it perform a kickass guitar solo!
that water is prety blue how much copper is in there i wonder
I love that they care about the birds enough to have a watch and set up 24/7 scare methods
Someone found a way to charge the US government a small fortune for setting up a company to run the guard shack. When the government denied, they got the animal welfare groups to put pressure on them. Of course, i'm just guessing here.
Jesper Monsted link?
@@knowledgenuke6029 "Of course, i'm just guessing here."
Itâs the least they could do tbh
There was a lot of pressure once an entire flock of migrating geese mistook it for a lake and decided to take a break there. After the geese melted, they had to start doing something.
I've lived only a half hour from here my whole life and now I'm going to college in Butte. How did I never know that Tom did a video on the pit??
Worker: we scare the birds off with cannons and high power rifles.
Birds: LMAO YOUR AIM IS DOG
"The pit's water contains so much metal that at one point one of its owners, Montana Resources, mined copper directly from the water."
Wait, what? What is this from? How?
@@piguyalamode164 I don't if this actually possible, but I'm doing educated guessing. You could do chemical reactions to try to get the copper out (like Cody's Lab does) or you may be able to do electrolysis and get the copper to stick onto something.
I live here in butte Montana if you need any info
And once it and everything around it was too toxic to touch, they just packed up their bags full of money and left, likely giving the middle finger to anyone left in their wake.
Tes you can remove the copper from the water using electrolysis. Same with other metals washing into the water. The question is, why not find the source of the water and blow the tunnels capping off the water flow. They could then drain the remaining water and blow the remaining tunnels forever sealing the metals from ever reaching the surface again. Those metals have been in the ground for centuries why not just cap it all off. They could even pump concrete into the tunnel entrances stopping the water. but no.
"Okay guys, so we oofed up the environment. Guess we have to clean it up now."
"How about charging $3 for people who want to see it?"
I mean if the money goes towards cleaning it.
"I see this as an absolute win"
I mean, someones gotta pay for it.
@@Chrome2105 how about the company that did the mess? Their mess their responsibility
@@ozymantiasVI Company probably doesn't exist anymore
@@Chrome2105 I see what you did there
I visited that place in '08 or '09 and the change in depth looks terrifying. It looks like a proper lake in this video, I remember it as a blighted puddle by comparison.
For all of those of you who arenât aquatinted with chemistry. The lower the PH the more Acidic it is, the higher the more basic it is. The normal PH scala goes from 0 up to 14. Water is a 7, in other words itâs neutral. There are some acids out there that are so acidic that they donât even fit on the PH scala. And due to the way of the scala being logarithmic (when you want to calculate a strong/ weak base with PKS) it cannot be negative, as such there is an entirely different system for these extreme acids
I went to this mine several times when it was operating, there was a platform where you could pay a small fee and look down into the pit while they were mining . Possibly the same platform that you now pay to look over the polluted mess. The massive trucks that would move the ore looked smaller than a match box toy when they were at the bottom, and when I stood next to one of the trucks the top of my head did not even reach the axel.
Hopefully you also took the opportunity to visit the Anaconda smelter stack while you were there. The pit and the stack histories go hand in hand and both are impressive.
The drop in acidity that the worker mentioned from 2.2 Ph to 4.1 Ph was caused by an experiment in trying to recover copper from the water. As you mentioned the iron pyrite forms sulfuric acid which reacts with copper ore to form water soluble copper sulfate. They would pump out water from the pit into large holding tanks and add a pile of iron scrap metal. The iron would replace the copper and after draining the tank they could pick up copper nuggets deposited in the process. The solution of now iron sulfate was just pumped back into pit where it reacted with the polluted water and precipitated to the bottom of the pit in various forms of iron minerals. This process removed a large amount of sulfate ions from the pit water thus lowering the acidity, they have concerns that some types of water treatments to lower the acidity could react with the precipitate and inadvertently cause the water to become more acidic.
I don't believe you
This actually makes a lot of sense.
Unfortunately this was caused by not foreseeing the full set of falling dominos caused by different mining operations and not knowing/ not testing all the different minerals in the hill.
It's easy to make the same mistake trying to correct the toxic pit that still contains unknown contaminants.
It's a shame and further chemical testing of the water may yield some information for possible routes of correction, but the silt contaminates are hard to properly measure.
So, a cobra effect.
@@denelson83 I had to look up what a cobra effect was and I learned something new.
nifty!
"What should we use to scare them off?"
*grabs rifle*
"There's only one option."
Murica, the only place where sitting in a booth and occasionally shooting an AR in the general direction of a bird counta as wildlife conservation.
@@nibs7252 And they pay you to do it.
What would you recommend instead?
Where I live this would be $30 and would offer a yearly membership. $3 is damn good to keep the place safe and maintained.
A goose: attempts to land on an acid lake
Workers: So anyway, I started blasting
Only I didn't miss this time.
I live here and saw them do that
âJeff, youâre supposed to aim *next* to the birds, not *at* the birds.â
@@joshuahadams No no, you shoot *at* the birds and *miss*
1:11 "That's a propane cannon!"
Hank Hill:
Thank you Tom Scott. Very good reporting.
As a Montanan, the history of Butte is quite fascinating. The way that the state were essentially controlled by them previous to the collapse of the copper mines. Next time you come to the states, please do some thing about Montana thatâs not related to the zone of death or the Berkeley pit haha.
I loved learning about how corrupt Montana government was back then. With how the anaconda company and other copper kings tried to control where the capital was.
Same pH as that of a soft drink
I'll call it _Pep-sea_
bravo
Mountain dew
@@pluto8404 Undermountain Dew.
Get out
Pluto :
Whoosh
"Nothing can survive there except a few hardy bugs", There's always a few hardy bugs!
*Watcher sees a bird land & Whoops out the Assault Rifle*
*Moments Later a whole migration lands*
Watcher: âCode Red calling In Air Strikeâ
As a Montanan, thereâs nothing more fun then going for a road trip by butte and just looking to your left and thereâs about a 100 foot drop off with a toxic pit at the bottom
âThere were whole neighborhoods destroyedâ is absolutely true. My grandpaâs home suburb of Meaderville is 100% pit now
My mom's old home was there too.
Greed of the Anaconda Company.
"A toxic pit with a $3 Admission fee" sounds like my ex tbh
oh snap
Nice
@Robert whittle ur mom
What?
@Robert whittle ur mom
I've actually been to Butte and stayed in a motel there on a road trip, I had no idea about the toxic pool but the town was absolutely lovely
did u go to the party palace
Reminds me of the Kalgoorlie Superpit gold mine (although it's still an operational mine and thus not flooded with ground water). Would be interesting to see a Tom Scott video comparing the two pits
"Oh no, there's bird in the pit that could kill them"
"Quick, shoot at them"
A m e r i c a
Yee yee, I wonât let no stinkin pond to steal my kill, that bird is mine
@@bruh6217M e r i c a*
00justSomeAccount00 did you even watch? It doesnât work all the time, thatâs why it isnât 100% automated.
@00justSomeAccount00 you are a bright one, shooting directly at then is a whole lot worse; but, they weren't shooting at them, they were shooting very close to them, which I assume is only reliably or not at all by the person they find unreliable. That modern bird deterrent doesn't work all the time, so it is essential that they employ what is the only alternative to a bird being eaten alive by acid because some birds don't care about that modern deterrent going off.
Dr Stone warned us, Tom pointed to us
hp1221WTF This makes me happy
Best comment
Get excited
I knew I'd find one
Dude itâs almost 5 months ago I loved that show so much
sitting around admiring birds and shoot at the lake once in a while, the greatest job ever
I used to live in Butte and i remember a school trip we once took into the neighboring continental pit.
I love that they actually go to the effort of protecting the birds.
@Stella Hohenheim I agree with you.
@Stellvia Hoenheim open pit mines never existed in the USSR?
@@selkirk154 It's fine if it's for the good of the party...I mean...people.
@Stellvia Hoenheim When you learn where Chernobyl is, your whole world is gonna flip upside downđđđđ
@Another Wacko it wouldnât overflow and the birsd would be completely dissolved so they won't be rotten
I grew up here, super random to see one of the rare uploads of yours I missed from last year be of my hometown
How fascinating and how interesting the Berkeley Pit!
Anyone know of any giant spoil heaps of alkali salts that need dumping?
Just drop a lot of lime and you'll end up with a lot of gypsum
1. Find random soda lake
2. Pump water from it
3. Find ways to transport that water
4. ????????
5. Profit
What about the other place Tom did which had the pH of bleach/ammonia? What would happen if you mix those together hmmm đ€ (Iâll probably go check it after and then brush up on my chemistry knowledge...)
fetchstixâą youâd most probably create extremely toxic gasses due to all the random metals floating about
NaOH sludge from aluminium ore mines
Not as toxic as CZcams's comments sections
ACTUALLY...
"Feck off cup!!!"
There. All better?
No u!
u suk
noon
hahaha haha
lolololol
I win
You're wrong. If you actually look at the facts, you will realize that you're not even close. I hate you for not able to grasp the reality and you suck for being wrong
My grandparents lived there, and I showed them this video, and they thought it was super awesome and, âneat!â
Being a Montana resident, I'm actually intrigued by Butte's history and how they treat Berkeley Pit.
This is my hometown.!! Also F.Y.I. about two holes open up per year as parts of those 10,000 miles of tunnels collapse in uptown Butte. I hope you enjoyed Butte!! This video made my day! Thank you!
My family is from Butte. I haven't been there in a few years but this video made my day
I also am from Butte! Strange to see it in a CZcams video like this
Do you hear these propane cannons at your place?
I am also from butte and I still live here
You can use the CZcams comment section for free don't need to pay $3
You are giving them ideas
I think I prefer the copper mine pit.
@@ragnkja I've got no idea whether or not you missed the joke.
Why do you have 2 coments bro
@@tonster5559 ikr its so annoying when people go over the 1 comment rule
Copper is always found with arsenic. The C19th mines in Devon and Cornwall annihilated huge area around the workings.
"we try to save bird's lives"
*uses flamethrowers and snipers*
I would stay on the good side of those bird watchers. Seems to me they have a perfect means to dispose of a body.
Given how deep this pit is, I'm 100% sure there are already bodies in it.
@@johnnamkeh1290 deepness of water increases how likely bodies are to be found? At how many feet are you garenteed to find bodies?
@@nonnaurbisness3013 None, if the probability converges monotonically somewhere below 100% ;)
@@nonnaurbisness3013 dude trynna brag about how you know the best way to dump a body
@@nonnaurbisness3013 Considering its not water but highly concentrated acid, id say depth is far less important in this situation
I wonder what the bottom looks like if there's just thousands of animals dying in the pit
Considering the acidity, they get dissolved fairly quickly I'd expect.
ad3z10 i thinks Bones can withstand Most acids. At least according to cartoons
@@ad3z10 it's about the acidity of a soft drink. Bones and stuff will hold up decently well.
@@VivaLaPanda9800 Uhh, have you seen what Coca-Cola does to a turkey bone?
I am guessing any remains would dissolve quickly.
Thank you @Tom Scott
The gift that keeps on giving
Butte is also home to the shortest Interstate highway in America. I-115, 1.3 miles. Starting in Butte, MT, ending in Butte, MT
and its currently under construction
I-115 is among the shortest, but it's only the fourth shortest signed Interstate and sixth shortest counting unsigned routes. I-110 in El Paso, TX is the shortest signed, and the unsigned I-878 is the shortest overall, officially designated on a short piece of freeway near the JFK Airport that was supposed to be extended.
@@qzfwcp Hey, its Montana. Two seasons: winter and construction.
I trust Roadsguy on this subject matter
Can it really be considered an interstate if it doesn't cross a state border?...
I live in Montana, and my one of the chants my high school did when we were facing Butte sports teams was âdirty waterâ