Idaho Maryland Mine?

Reopening of the Idaho Maryland Mine

Current Status:

In November 2011, Emgold, the company seeking to reopen the long-closed Idaho Maryland Mine, requested a 60-90 day "time-out" to try to raise money to pay for the 2nd round of the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) required by the City of Grass Valley. (Emgold's first DEIR submission was deemed inadequate.) No more news has been forthcoming since that time.

It will likely take at least 12 months from the time Emgold has sufficient funding to complete a revised DEIR and submit it for approval to the City of Grass Valley. We will keep you informed as the process continues.

Background:

There is currently a proposal before the Grass Valley planning commission and City Council to reopen the Idaho Maryland Mine, which borders our community at the intersection of Idaho Maryland Rd and Brunswick Rd. The BMHA board has voted to oppose the reopening of the IMM. We have studied this project in detail, evaluating both the DEIR and the comments that have been submitted relative to the DEIR. Based on all the information available, we feel that the impacts of the mine on our community will be significant and negative. In addition we have been unable to devise a project configuration that we feel is feasible and which would remove these impacts. For complete and detailed information on this project go to the CLAIM-GV web site.

There are numerous issues surrounding this mega project but the two that should be of most concern to Banner Mountain are dewatering of the existing mine and increased traffic and pollution. We discuss these and other issues in detail below. Dewatering of the mine presents a real risk to our residents who have wells for their water supply. Water runs downhill and no one knows how the fractures in the rock on Banner Mountain are interconnected and which ones lead to the mine. If the mine is dewatered some of the water uphill on Banner Mountain may flow down and take its place. As more water is pumped out of the mine, wells many miles away could be drained dry.

The DEIR was released on Oct 30, 2008 and the response period closed on Jan 20, 2009. To read the BMHA respone click here. To peruse all the DEIR responses go to CLAIM-GV where they are posted online.

Due to the overwhelming number of negative comments, including ours, on the Idaho Maryland Mine (IMM) Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR), the lead agency, the City of Grass Valley, has ordered that a revised DEIR must be submitted leading to another public comment period. The City required that Emgold first provide a revised project description to respond to the issues identified in the (DEIR) which was submitted in late 2008. The revised plan was recently submitted to the City by Emgold.

Do the Benefits Outweigh the Risks and Issues????

What are the proposed benefits to our community? The only one is about 100 temporary jobs which could possibly go to "locals". Emgold, the mine's owner, does not expect the mine to be profitable for more than 10 or 20 years, if that long. During this time, the high-level high-paying jobs will go to Emgold management and outside experts. As with mines in other parts of the country, the low-pay high-risk jobs go to the unskilled laborer. While there may be individuals interested in mining work in Nevada County, it cannot be known how many of these jobs would go to locals vs. commuters from outside the county as it is illegal to discriminate in hiring based on where someone lives. It is quite possible that should the mine be reopened, a number of other jobs/industries would have to move due to the blasting problems. Specifically, our current high tech community and hospital cannot withstand constant shaking of the ground. Additionally, Emgold is planning to operate the mine 24x7 - what affect will this have on those who live nearby? What will happen to nearby property values?

Alternately, if we put a fraction of the money it will cost us to traverse the mine process into recruiting high tech jobs we would retain our quality of life and increase our economic base with no risk. Mining is Nevada County's heritage but there have not been any active mining operations for over 50 years. During that time our community has evolved in a completely different direction. It has only been in recent years that the toxic legacy of mining has come to the forefront - and we are still years away from dealing with it.

The answer - No, the benefits are NOT worth the impacts.

The Impacts on our community

The impacts of this heavy industrial operation on our community are outlined below. The only uncertainty is to what degree these impacts will occur. But they will occur.

Increased Traffic: large heavy trucks, 1 every 8 minutes 24/7 plus many more commuters and toxic (cyanide, dynamite, waste materials for tile) supplies going in and out of the area. These trucks will be carrying either mine waste or possibly tiles made from mine waste.
Dust pollution from blasting, digging, processing much of which will be silica and asbestos laced.
Increased noise
Increased light pollution
Increased diesel pollution
Increased ozone from all the added traffic.
Increased road damage. (Our potholes are already mammoth.)
Toxic mine waste. If / when Emgold disappears, how will the waste be processed? How will Emgold assure the community that they will leave leave no toxic waste behind. We are only now dealing with toxic waste from our past mining history.
De-watering issues. The impact of the mining operations on our wells is not known. See our DEIR response here. How many will dry up? All of Banner Mtn? How do we know where the mine water will come from? Putting people on NID water would further strain a drought situation the community is already struggling with. What will the toxic content of the drainage be? Can it really be cleaned up completely? What will the water flow do to Wolf Creek and the communities and farmers downstream?
How many jobs will be lost due to the vibrations from blasting? Several companies in the high tech park have already said they will have to relocate.
How will the mine affect our tourism industry? Who wants to visit a (toxic) heavy industrial site? Most of our weekend tourists come from areas that are already congested - they come here for our tranquility. An active industrial site would not likely be high on their list.
How many people will leave the county to get away from these problems? Will we have a net loss of jobs and/or residents? How many folks will move somewhere else to avoid these impacts?
The ceramics factory. Is it really financially viable to create tiles from toxic waste? What is the effect on air pollution from heating up toxic mine waste and venting it to our atmosphere. How much more CO2 will be added to the atmosphere? Where will the natural gas and electricity come from? What will this usage do our supply and prices? What if it proves not to be financially viable? Double the amount of truck traffic taking waste somewhere else. Or burying the waste back undergroud. Double the truck pollution?
Potential for mine disaster is very real. Emgold could just walk away or declare bankruptcy. Their bond cannot possibly cover all the problems that might occur. Grass Valley, Nevada County, California, and the US government would be left to pay for cleanup and recovery.
If this process continues, what happens when an issue outside the bounds of the EIR or an approved project plan is discovered? Who will monitor the ongoing process? Will the project really be shut down mid-stream until the issue is resolved? Highly unlikely. Given our recent history with regard to corporate malfeasance how can we trust Emgold to do what they say they are going to do? Note that this penny-stock Canadian company has never operated a mine, anywhere. (Just refer to BP's oil spill and Massey's coal mine disaster.)
Overall our quality of life will be adversely affected, possibly irrevocably. Ours is a semi-rural community with a strong sense of appreciation for the outdoors and the environment. It is a place where people come to get away from the cities and heavily developed areas. A heavy industrial operation is directly at odds with this ethos.

What Can We Do?

Become informed and stay informed. Talk to your neighbors and friends. Check out the local concerned citizens group, Citizens Looking At Impacts of Mining, CLAIM-GV, and their web site. Attend any upcoming meetings, which are generally publicized in the Union and on KVMR. Follow our website as we will provide more information for you as we can.

Don't just take our word for it. To become more informed here are some links to storys in other local media.
Yubanet.com articles on the mine. VERY informative and comprehensive.
APPLE article on mine energy usage. Alliance for a Post Petroleum Local Economy (Nevada County)
Wolf Creek Alliance articles on the mine. Significant information on de-watering. Plus many other comprehensive articles and links.
Grass Valley City Mine Documents. Data but no analysis.

Banner Mountain Homeowners Association (BMHA) Est. 1984