In the Spotlight
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Ruby Pipeline Record Of Decision Has Been Issued |
The United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management has signed a Record of Decision (ROD), Temporary Use Permit and Right-of-Way Grant for the Ruby Pipeline Project!
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Injuction Against Mine at Mt. Tenabo Won |
Thursday December 3, 2009
Associated Press
"US court block huge gold mine project in Nevada"
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Mercury Exposure |
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A mercury-emitting gold roaster at Newmont's Gold Quarry mine. | Photo Credit: Earthworks Overview
Nevada's mining industry has in recent years been the number one mercury polluter in the nation from combined waste rock and air emissions. Based on Nevada's gold operations since the early 1980s, up to and perhaps more than 100 tons of mercury have been released into the atmosphere here over the past 25 years.
Great Basin Resource Watch and Earthworks, in coordination with Idaho Conservation League, have initiated legal action against the EPA over contamination of Idaho streams and lakes caused by northern Nevada gold mines. Federal regulators discovered that Nevada mines were a leading source of mercury pollution five years ago.
While some mines have voluntarily worked with EPA since 2001 to cut mercury emissions by more than half, 2002 saw 10 mines in Nevada?seven in northern Nevada along the Idaho border?account for the highest concentration of airborne mercury emissions in the West (other than Texas).
Not until 2003 did the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality learn of the mines' high emissions. Idaho officials now plan to monitor the air and snowpack along the Nevada border.
New Challenge
ICL, GBRW, and Earthworks are calling on EPA to regulate the mining industry as it does other industries. ICL notes that although the gold mining industry releases less total mercury than coal-fired power plants, these plants are scattered across the nation, while the largest gold mine polluters are concentrated in northern Nevada, presenting a potential threat to the health of southern Idaho residents.
At this time, EPA has no plans to establish industry-wide guidelines. Idaho may create a regional commission to address the mercury pollution. Meanwhile, Nevada has the authority to regulate mines to the same levels as coal-fired power plants, and GBRW will press for rule-making. The technology for mercury control is now available; the mining industry is again very profitable and it's past time for the state of Nevada to regulate this toxin.
Health Impacts
Mercury exposure at high levels can permanently damage the brain, kidneys, and harm a developing fetus. In addition, the EPA has determined that mercury compounds are possible human carcinogens.
Scientists are also now linking recent high rates of autism among children to mercury exposure. A National Research Council panel has estimated that more than 60,000 children born each year are at risk of neurological problems because of prenatal exposure to mercury. Nationwide, 8 percent of women of childbearing age have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood. Children of women exposed to high levels of methyl mercury show delayed onset of walking and talking, as well as reduced neurological test scores. Exposure to methyl mercury may also result in elevated blood pressure and heart attack.
Although the mercury emitted from mines is elemental mercury, it is oxidized in the atmosphere to a form that is rapidly deposited on soils, vegetation and water. When washed into waterways, it can be converted to the bioaccumulating methyl mercury, and then moves up the food chain, primarily through fish consumption.
Who's who: gold mining's mercury emitters
According to the EPA's annual Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) published last summer, the hardrock mining industry generated 1.3 billion pounds of waste in 2002?27 percent of all toxics released by U.S. industry. The TRI shows that Nevada leads the West (besides Texas) in airborne mercury emissions, and mining is by far the leading source of mercury emissions from all sources nationwide. The top emitters in Nevada include Newmont Mining, Queenstake, American Barrick and Placer Dome.
During gold production, mercury and other pollutants are released into the air from gold roasters and exposed tailing piles. A process called "roasting" which heats rock up in order to separate gold from ore, volatilized 4,700 pounds of mercury at Queenstake's Jerritt Canyon alone in 2002.
In 2003, TRI data showed the mining industry released nearly 3 billion pounds of toxic chemicals into the environment. A significant percentage this total represents toxic chemicals discharged in waste rock.
What You Can Do
Write a letter to Senator Reid and Representative Gibbons, requesting enforcement of air emissions and water quality legislation, in light of sky-high mercury releases. Reid: 528 Hart Building, Washington, D.C. 20515; Gibbons: 100 Cannon Building, Washington, D.C., 20515
Ask Allen Biaggi, director of Nevada Department of Conservation, to regulate gold industry mercury: 123 W. Nye Lane, Room 230, Carson City, NV 89706.
Ask Sen. Reid to call on EPA to set gold industry mercury rules: (775) 882-7343.
To learn more about the effects of mercury, go to the EPA's fact page.
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Act Now!
Protect Sensitive Habitat and Native American cultural sites from the
Proposed Ruby Gas Pipeline
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Stop Barrick Gold mining company from Destruction of the Sacred Mt. Tenabo (Nevada)
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In Reality, Love Earth Mines Do Not Glitter
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Communities
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