Back when our Associate Editor Jonathan Thompson lived in the former mining town of Silverton, Colo., there was an ongoing debate about cleaning up abandoned mines. The stakeholders who wanted cleaner water advocated removing mine dumps, which leached acidic and heavy metal-laden water into streams. But many of the old-timers opposed the removal, arguing that tourists came to San Juan County to “look at the mine dumps. They’re really pretty, after all.”

It turns out that tourists really DO like to look at the toxic legacy left by mining. The Salt Lake Tribune profiles Butte, Mont., where the Chamber of Commerce is charging folks to look at the Berkeley Pit. And people are actually paying for it. ”Some people see contaminated water,” said chamber executive Marko Lucich. ”I see wealth.”

Makes you want to set up a Western environmental catastrophe tour. It could begin down near the Mexican border, where power plants on the south side of the border spew toxic fumes over to this side; pass through the cancer-filled uranium towns in Navajo country and southern Utah; and finish with a view of the folks of Libby, Mont.