California, Environmental Group Agree to Address Storm Water Runoff

The state of California and an environmental group have signed an agreement to stop polluting Little Wolf Creek in Nevada County by dealing with storm runoff at Empire Mine State Park that runs through contaminated tailings and soil.

According to a report from The Union newspaper, a joint statement released last week announced that the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Deltakeeper chapter of Baykeeper reached the agreement.

Deltakeeper filed a complaint in federal court in 2004 that said measures to prevent mine contaminants from flowing into the creek were inadequate. State parks have agreed to make plans to stop storm water from draining off constructions sites and old mine tailing piles at the park.

Monitoring of the runoff will be done and hazardous mine tailings and sediment at the park will be dealt with.

"They will also be posting by the Magenta Drain area so people don't swim in the waste," said Carrie McNeil of Deltakeeper. "I'm confident they're committed to getting the pollution to stop."

The drain handles discharge from 367 miles of flooded and abandoned mine shafts. The Empire Mine operated for 106 years and produced 175 tons of gold. The parks purchased the mine and 800 acres 30 years ago and all the toxic waste that came from the mining activities. The first cleanup at the mine occurred from 1986 to 1989 when 46,000 contaminated tons of sediment were removed.

The toxic waste at the mine produced mercury, arsenic, cadmium, lead and other pollutants to flow into the area's streams.

"The California Gold Rush left us a tragic legacy," McNeil said. "We appreciate state parks' willingness to take action to end Empire's toxic legacy of contaminating our watershed."

Source: The Union