Almost 175 years after the Gold Rush began, Californians are left holding the bag for thousands of abandoned mines.
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In part because it’s so complex, there’s limited research on the long-term health effects of living near a gold mine.Since 1965, Malakoff Diggins, once the state’s largest hydraulic mine about 45 minutes outside of Nevada City, has been a state historic park. Today, visitors can walk around what remains of the mining pit. Since mining stopped in the 19th century, plants have started to regrow in parts of the pit and along its steep slopes.
On the edge of the Tailings 4 Area of the Argonaut Mine Superfund Site, there’s an old earthen dam that was constructed out of the leftover waste and rocks dug up from the mine, to stop mine waste from flowing off the site. The dam used to be about 20 feet taller, but in the 1970s, the city dug some of it out to build roads around town.
Rosellen recalls hanging out at those mines as a child and describes the attachment many Downieville residents feel towards these places. “They live on those mine sites. They grew up there. They were born there,” she says. “There’s an empathy for these sites.” Because of that attachment, there’s a bitterness, she explains, when the government changes things, even if it’s to keep people safe.Fortunately, Rosellen thinks things are getting better and attitudes are improving.
But finding someone to help pay—a ‘potentially responsible party’ in EPA-speak—hasn’t been so easy at other mines in the area.Like Jackson, where Argonaut Mine is, Nevada City also has its own Superfund site. Unlike in Jackson, though, no one addressed the problem until it was too late. On New Year’s Eve, 1996, a 30-foot log dam built to hold back mining debris at the Lava Cap Mine failed during a rainstorm.
Elder knew there was a mine on the property when he purchased it, but he claims he wasn’t aware of how serious the problem was, nor was he told about the cleanup order or the state’s warning. He’s continued to fight the lawsuit, alleging that he’s being mistreated and doesn’t have the financial ability to pay or appeal.The state toxics agency says the law is clear: private landowners can be held responsible, and it’s up to them to properly investigate a site before purchasing it.
He’s juggling grants in the hundreds of thousands of dollars range, not the millions of dollars available to a federal agency. Brownfields Grants also require a financial match, so Leach says they’ve had to get creative pulling together funding from various sources to cover project costs. For one, he’s learned to phase projects so he can tie up loose ends and keep the site stable until more money comes through.
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