Gold mining's toxic legacy earns education effort

In the heart of the Mother Lode where romantic images dominate, public awareness remains low on the health risks associated with toxins left behind from historic gold mining operations, said the Sierra Fund’s Mike Thornton.

The nonprofit community group is beginning to break that silence through education and policy change.

“Some say the message is less talked about here than other places of the Sierra,” Thornton said. “A lot of people like the idea of a romanticized image of the Gold Rush.”

In September, the Sierra Fund received a grant for nearly $309,000 from the California Endowment, a private health foundation that funds community-based groups. The money will be used to advance public outreach and find funding for cleanup.

This year, representatives have met with scientists, health professionals, mining companies, local city and county governments, Native American tribes and the public throughout the Sierra Nevada mountain range in small rural communities, Thornton said.

At 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Thornton will give his first local presentation of the Sierra Fund’s report, “Mining’s Toxic Legacy” at the NID Annex building in Grass Valley at 1036 West Main Street across from Lyman Gilmore Middle School.

In March, the Sierra Fund, released its report at the state capitol during a joint hearing of three state assembly committees who examined the impacts of legacy mining on public land and water.

Thursday’s meeting marks the first time since the report was issued that the Nevada City-based non-profit group, led by former county supervisor Izzy Martin, has held a local public discussion on the impacts of historic mining.

Thornton serves as the mining project community organizer for Sierra Fund and was the former news director for KVMR. He has traveled beyond his backyard to speak in places such as Quincy, Susanville, Chico, Red Bluff, and the counties of Sierra, Tuolomne, Calaveras and Alpine.

“We don’t want to have everything center right here,” Thornton said.

Sierra Fund does not support or oppose the controversial Idaho-Maryland Mine and in the future hopes to work with mining companies such as Emgold Mining Corporation to gain expertise on how to best manage toxins left behind from early mine sites, Thornton said.

“We’re looking to make allies. We’re not looking to make enemies. It’s going to take real cooperation to deal with it,” Thornton said.

Toxic Legacy

Sierra Fund’s report details the environmental and health problems associated with the California Gold Rush.

Nearly 50,000 abandoned mines have been found throughout the state, according to the report.

Mercury is commonly found in fish living in Sierra Nevada rivers and lakes, as well as downstream in the Sacramento River and Bay Delta where a substantial number of urban minority populations rely on subsistence fishing for cultural and economic reasons, Thornton said.

As much as 60 percent of the state’s drinking water comes from the Sierra Nevada, the report said.

“It’s going to become a big deal fast,” Thornton said. “Many of the lakes up here are old hydraulic mine pits.”

Old mine tailings, often neglected in remote popular off road riding areas and on rural private properties, contain high levels of asbestos and arsenic.

“A lot of these mine sites that were always remote, are no longer remote,” Thornton said. “The thing is most of this stuff hasn’t been tested,” Thornton said.

In recent years, numerous state, local and federal land agencies have poured millions of dollars into the clean up of old mine sites.

Nevada Irrigation District has started a pilot project to remove mercury laden sediment from one of its reservoirs, the Bureau of Land Management is studying the effects suction dredging by recreational miners has on the release of environmental mercury into the Yuba River, and Empire Mine has spent years cleaning up its trails at the state park.

Hundreds of old mines

Nevada County has hundreds of abandoned mine sites that are tracked on a database of old mining claims, said Wesley Nicks, director of environmental health.

“The county’s been working on this issue for years,” Nicks said.

Sites range from small “coyote holes” to the Banner Lava Cap Mine, declared a superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The high cost of cleaning up a site can stall development or become a financial burden to property owners, such as was the case with Steve Elder, owner of the Banner Lava Cap Mine. Elder and others are being sued by the Department of Justice, to recover $20 million the EPA spent to clean up arsenic left behind from an old gold and silver mine that operated on Elder’s property prior to his ownership.

“It can be hugely expensive,” Thornton said.

Sierra Fund has teamed up with former abandoned mine lands attorney and former county supervisor candidate Bob Joehnck to explore funding streams to help property owners and local governments cover the heavy cost of cleaning up contaminated old mine sites. Joehnck lost his run for District 2 county supervisor in June.

Property owners become responsible for clean up if an old mine poses health risks to residents of a future housing development, neighboring residents or environmental risks to waterways.

A number of older home sites within the county could be resting atop an abandoned mine site.

“There could be some mine tailings on the property they should be wary about,” Nicks said.

For more information about the Sierra Fund, visit www.sierrafund.org.

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To contact Staff Writer Laura Brown, e-mail lbrown@theunion.com or call 477-4231.