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<DIV style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: 12pt">
<DIV>really? I had no idea, but it does make sense</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>is there a recycling program? how much mercury and lead has been removed
each year and where has it gone?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>please cite some studies and peer reviews, thanks</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt tahoma">
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV style="BACKGROUND: #f5f5f5">
<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=bhill@igc.org
href="mailto:bhill@igc.org">Brian Hill</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 08, 2012 6:31 PM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=env-trinity@mailman.dcn.org
href="mailto:env-trinity@mailman.dcn.org">env-trinity@mailman.dcn.org</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [env-trinity] Two Rivers Tribune- Proposed Suction
DredgingRegs Causing a Stir</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">
<DIV class=WordSection1>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Suction
dredges are designed to remove heavy metals, esp., gold and platinum, from
waterways. Because mercury and lead are almost as heavy as gold, suction
dredges REMOVE mercury and lead from waterways along with gold and other heavy
metals. This blatant fact known to every dredge miner is carefully
circumvented by those opposed to small stream miners.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Doesn't
it make sense that removing mercury from waterways improves the health of the
waterway?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">A
test of whether dredging stirs up or removes mercury from waterways would be
very simple to demostrate.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt">Brian
Hill<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<P class=MsoNormal><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri','sans-serif'; COLOR: #1f497d; FONT-SIZE: 11pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN> </P>
<DIV>
<DIV
style="BORDER-BOTTOM: medium none; BORDER-LEFT: medium none; PADDING-BOTTOM: 0in; PADDING-LEFT: 0in; PADDING-RIGHT: 0in; BORDER-TOP: #b5c4df 1pt solid; BORDER-RIGHT: medium none; PADDING-TOP: 3pt">
<P class=MsoNormal><B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">From:</SPAN></B><SPAN
style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
env-trinity-bounces+bhill=igc.org@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us
[mailto:env-trinity-bounces+bhill=igc.org@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us] <B>On
Behalf Of </B>Tom Stokely<BR><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, March 08, 2012 3:58
PM<BR><B>To:</B> env-trinity@velocipede.dcn.davis.ca.us<BR><B>Subject:</B>
[env-trinity] Two Rivers Tribune- Proposed Suction Dredging Regs Causing a
Stir<o:p></o:p></SPAN></P></DIV></DIV>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 16pt">Proposed Suction Dredging Regs
Causing a Stir</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>By Malcolm Terence, Two Rivers Tribune Contributing
Writer<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>Published March 6, 2012<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
The state’s new round of proposed regulations for suction dredging for gold is
getting mixed reviews by the stakeholders. The Karuk Tribe, which has opposed
dredging because of harm to fish and water quality, says they are an improvement
in every way, but still inadequate. And the Western Mining Alliance (WMA) says
“this is the end of suction dredging in the state of California.”<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
The dredges, currently banned by legislation until June 30, 2016, operate as
floating vacuum cleaners that use a gas-powered pump to suck up gravel and
cobble in a river or stream and run it through a sluice box that winnows out any
gold. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
At its height, dredgers lined up close together in large numbers in places like
the Salmon River where their operations triggered concerns about the effects on
dwindling aquatic populations. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
The WMA website for January said that miners need to focus on overturning two
specific state laws—SB670 and AB120—that block continued mining. The group wrote
that 2011 “was the year that propaganda, mistruths, and extreme environmentalism
threw us off the rivers.” <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
The group appealed to their members’ support, a litigation strategy, by each
donating $250 to fund an hour of lawyer time. The WMA website said claim holders
had been slow to respond to an appeal from People for Public Land for
information about individual claims. Only a few claim holders had responded so
far. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
In their detailed response to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), the mining
advocates challenged several specific regulations including the 4 inch maximum
nozzle size, the ban on dredging within 3 feet from a channel bank, and the
requirement that no dredge operate within 500 feet of another. They claim a part
of the state’s environmental review shows that sediment settles within 300 feet
and that the turbidity isn’t harmful to fish, anyway. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
They also objected to a requirement that a containment system be used so fuel
and oil don’t enter the river and said fuel isn’t spilled unless a dredge is
flipped, an event that would submerge the containment system
anyway.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
And they complained that there was no basis for the issuance limit in the new
regulations of only 1,500 permits statewide, a figure that they said would not
allow one permit for every 10 claim holders. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
The 1,500-permit limit was actually one of the best improvements in the new
regulations, according to Craig Tucker, Klamath coordinator for the Karuk Tribe
since 2004. He also praised the 500-foot separation between dredges.
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
“The regs are an improvement in almost every way but they are still
unacceptable,” Tucker wrote in an e-mail to the Two Rivers Tribune. He pointed
out that they still allow dredges in the main stem of the Salmon River which is
refuge of the Klamath’s last spring Chinook, and the Scott and Shasta Rivers
which are habitat for the threatened coho salmon. <o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>The regulations do ban dredges in the lowest 8 miles of the main
stem Salmon River as well as many other locations in the Klamath Basin. They
include a ban on dredging anything within a 500-foot radius of where a stream
enters a river. These stretches of cold-water refugia often fill with migrating
fish as the main river water warms in late summer and early fall.
<o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P
style="TEXT-INDENT: 0.5in; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>One Salmon River resident, a member of the Karuk Tribe, who
lives near such an area, praised that regulation and said “Good. I won’t have to
have miners threaten to kick my butt when I tell them they shouldn’t mine
there.”<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal>
Tucker, a biochemist, challenged the claims of mining advocates that the dredges
did not stir up old mercury deposits and said “You’re welcome to your own
opinion but not your own facts. Studies by California Water Quality Control
Board specifically measuring the concentrations of suspended mercury above and
below an operating dredge show that dredging dramatically increases the
concentrations of this highly toxic heavy metal in the river. Miners actually
participated in the study and they are part of the CEQA record. Problem is the
Department of Fish and Game claim their job is not to regulate water quality.
Fish and Game basically leave it up to the water board to regulate dredging to
prevent the mercury problem and the water board does not have law enforcement
personnel.”<o:p></o:p></P>
<P style="mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto"
class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
Tucker reiterated that the regulations are an improvement but still not
adequate. “Until Fish and Game can come up with regulations that don't
jeopardize the survival of salmon, lamprey, mussels, and water quality, the
Karuk Tribe will continue this fight,” he said. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
Another condition of AB 120 is that the costs of a permit should fully recover
all the costs to the DFG related to administration of dredging. Such a change
would need to be approved by the legislature. Pro-dredging advocates said that
such a fee might be prohibitive. </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
Dave McCracken, owner of the New 49ers recreational mining business in Happy
Camp could not respond to telephone calls because he was out of the country, and
also did not respond to repeated e-mailed interview questions from Two Rivers
Tribune. He has postings on the issue on his website at </SPAN><A
href="http://www.goldgold.com">http://www.goldgold.com</A><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> .</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt"> </SPAN><o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoBodyText><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">
The actual regulations are available at </SPAN><A
href="http://www.dfg.ca.gov/suctiondredge/">http://www.dfg.ca.gov/suctiondredge/</A><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">. The website for the Western Mining Alliance is
</SPAN>http://westernminingalliance.org/<SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 10pt">.
</SPAN><o:p></o:p></P></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
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