Dogzilla

I sure wouldn't want this guy checkin' my taxes!

"Within the environmentally hostile confines of the Berkeley Pit lives perhaps Superfund's most amazing paradox. Its name is "The Auditor.''

"Its genus is Canus, but its species -- if indeed there ever were another single dog like it on the planet -- would be nothing other than extraordinarius. This mysterious mongrel has called the 5,000-acre contaminated expanse of the Berkeley Pit federal Superfund site, combined with Montana Resources' active mine permit area, its home since 1986. Ironically, its only help in surviving has come from the compassion of miners…

"God only knows what he does all day,'' says MR employee Ron Benton. "You've got to won der why an animal would choose a place so forlorn.''

"Forlorn indeed. Not a single blade of grass, nary a tree, shrub or weed can survive on the acidic crust that dominates this animal's yard. Reeking of sulfur and acidity, this is the kind of soil that eats men's boots, let alone the feet of any normal dog.

"And the water here is lethal, should you suppose he walks on that. In 1995, the deceptively calm surface of the Pit infamously claimed the lives of 342 snow geese that made the mistake of a migratory stop.

"It's unbelievable how it could live in a place that's supposed to be so toxic,'' says local veterinarian Ed Peretti. "He's one tough dog, I'll tell you that.''

Just in case ya' missed it, that "tough dog" is nearly 20 years old! Twenty years livin' in a toxic waste pit?! Seems to me this story puts a new spin on all that Yucca Mountain howlin'.

posted by Harrison at 12:57 PM