In a guest column published March 25, Dana Connors of the Maine Chamber of Commerce says that “excessive, oftentimes redundant, regulations have suppressed the industry for more than 20 years. Current regulations are so restrictive that no new mines have been constructed since the laws were changed in 1991. That is a true illustration of zero growth.”

It is misleading in the extreme to blame Maine’s mining laws and rules for the fact that no new metal mines have been opened in Maine in the past two decades. All attempts to open an open pit mine at Bald Mountain have stumbled because of low mineral prices, not because of mining regulations.

Thirty years ago I did extensive research on the potential benefits and costs of the type of open pit mine proposed for Bald Mountain in Aroostook County.

What I learned is that the mining industry has a long record of environmental irresponsibility.

Mines in other states and countries, many in wet climates similar to ours in Maine, have resulted in severe water contamination.

Or look even closer to home. Both the Callahan mine in Brooksville and the Kerramerican mine in Blue Hill have caused massive contamination, requiring massive cleanup. In fact, the Callahan mine is a federal Superfund site, which the Environmental Protection Agency estimates will cost $25 million for remedial work thanks to a legacy of neglect by the private mining operators.

The share of that being paid by Mainers (10 percent) is in the millions, plus we will have to pay 100 percent of the cost of maintaining the site, if and when cleanup is completed.

The legislation proposed by Rep. John Martin would undo many of the reasonable rules that Maine put into place precisely to have public oversight of the potentially disastrous impacts of major mining developments. Scant evidence has been offered that the mining industry has cleaned up its act and earned our trust.

Irving Woodlands, John Martin, Dana Connors, Gov. Paul LePage and all the others who want to ram through fundamental changes to Maine’s mining laws in a matter of days should stand down, create a thoughtful process to review the statues and rules, and provide demonstrable proof that a major mining operation can adequately protect the waters, wildlife and woods in the ecosystems around Bald Mountain. Then they will deserve the support, perhaps even the trust, of Mainers.

Otherwise, rushing to change the existing mining laws is chasing fool’s gold for short-term greed at the expense of long-term protection of Maine’s most valuable asset, the natural environment, and all those who rely upon it.

Jym St. Pierre of Hallowell is director of RESTORE: The North Woods.