A rider that would allow a mining company to blow a 900-foot hole in a mountain in Washington state and dump mining waste on federal land has so far remained attached to a large spending bill to fund the war in Kosovo. Sen. Slade Gorton (R-Wash.) authored the rider after the feds denied a permit for the gold mine because it would violate federal law. The bill seems to be headed for passage by the House and Senate next week, and Clinton is likely to sign it into law.
