MERCURY WARS
California State – Principal mercury and gold Mining Districts. Source: US Geological Survey.
Mercury “Fate and Transport” – Sierran Region - illustration Illustration depicts transport of “fugitive” or mercury lost during historic hydraulic mining operations. Subsequently, mercury particles are transported from the upper portions of the Sierran watersheds during winter storm events and thence into lower elevation rivers, reservoirs and wetlands. Note that hydraulic mine sluicebox tunnels and “ground sluices” are key mercury “hot spot” sites. Source: US Geological Survey.
Several federal government agencies have responded to the mercury threat by implementing pilot projects over the last fifteen years. Three agencies implemented pilot-scale mercury projects at hydraulic mine sluice tunnel sites. Significant amounts of elemental mercury escaped out of the surface and underground sluicebox systems at hundreds of hydraulic mines. The consensus of the technical team was that mercury contamination was considered widespread in the Sierra Nevada region and would be extremely costly to mitigate or clean up.
The initial mitigation strategy focused on mercury clean up at mercury “hot spots” associated with hydraulic mine features like sluice tunnels. State regulators, including the California Water Quality Control Board, have been ordered to protect State water resources and prevent contaminants from adversely affecting local communities and wildlife.
For example, the Sacramento River Basin Plan calls for preventing “new” inputs or discharges of mercury into the basin. In some cases state agencies have co-sponsored and co-funded federal mercury investigations in order to better
Red Dog Mine - pilot mercury “cleanup” project, Nevada Co., CA. Photo of elemental mercury recovered from processing of sluice box tunnel mercury-laden sediments. Source: Lawler Collection.
assess mercury “fate and transport” in Sierran and Coast Range watersheds.
The projected cost estimates are enormous for repairing the environmental damage to watersheds and biota from the Sierran watersheds to the Bay-Delta. From an economic “cost/ benefit” historical perspective, it may ultimately cost two to five ounces of gold for every ounce of gold that was produced in the past by hydraulic mining.
Small miners and some mining groups feel their “mining rights” have been curtailed or restricted, and claim these rights were guaranteed under the federal General Mining Law of 1872. Enactment of a recent state law that restricts the use of suction-dredge and other mine equipment technologies, is
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