Eureka
Times-Standard story May 22, 2004
Canyon Creek gold
mining dredges up nuggets of concern
By John Driscoll The
Times-Standard
Saturday, May 22, 2004 –
An open pit mining operation on
a creek that flows out of the Trinity Alps Wilderness may
yield significant gold — but it has drawn the ire of
residents and environmentalists in Trinity County.
Weaverville company Master
Petroleum Inc., with origins in Texas, is looking to mine on
about 22 acres just outside the wilderness, and within 100
feet of Canyon Creek. The operation proposes to take 1.4
million tons of gravel from pits over the next five to 25
years.
The operation would likely be
visible from the road that leads to the Canyon Creek
trailhead — the most visited trail in the alps. Canyon
Creek feeds the Trinity River, an important salmon river
slowly being restored.
The company insists it’ll do
nothing to harm the creek, but residents worry it could
become another disastrous mining operation like others in
the county.
“It’s just a really bad idea,”
said Drew Franklin, a Weaverville business owner and
Junction City resident. “This would just be a disappointment
every time you see it,” he said.
The U.S. Forest Service is
reviewing the proposal, but would be powerless to stop it.
The 1872 Mining Act confers a right to enter public lands to
search for minerals. It is preparing an Environmental Impact
Statement, however, which will examine a range of
alternatives for the project.
Master Petroleum geologist
Cullen Thomas said buffers along the creek and along the
road are intended to address aesthetic and environmental
concerns. He said the company is going after a valuable
commodity now experiencing a shortfall worldwide, and
intends to perform only as much work as is needed to get the
gold.
“We don’t intend to tear up the
world,” Thomas said. “That’s not our cup of tea at
all.”
The operation would occur in
four stages and involve significant heavy equipment. D-7 and
D-8 bulldozers, excavators, front-end loaders, backhoes,
sluices and pumps would be used, and two ponds would be
constructed.
Most of the site would be logged
as well.
About 100,000 gallons of water
per day would be taken from the Big East Fork of Canyon
Creek for processing the gold-bearing placer
gravels.
Master Petroleum first submitted
the plan in 1998. In 2000, the company tested the area about
nine miles north of Junction City for gold. And it’s there.
But it requires that about 25 to
65 feet of gravel must be removed from the top of the pits
to reach the last 10 feet of gold-rich deposits just above
the bedrock.
Forest Service Resource Officer
Michael Mitchell said the government can demand certain
conditions are met, but has to, by law, process the request.
Mitchell said the placement of
the mining pits — some of which are above the 100-year
flood line — would be looked at very carefully. A bond to
ensure the areas are put to bed and replanted is
required.
What happens if there’s a
catastrophic failure of a pit or a major fuel spill?
Mitchell was not sure if the Forest Service has the
authority to impose a major bond to guard against such a
possibility.
Naturally occurring mercury and
arsenic sometimes comes along with mining operations, and
warnings about mercury levels in certain fish are posted on
Trinity Lake because the chemicals were dredged up by old
mining operations.
Mitchell said it’s likely state
water quality officials have or will examine if there is
potential for that at the Canyon Creek site.
The Forest Service is seeking
public comment on the proposal until Aug. 26, and a decision
document won’t be available until probably the fall of 2005,
Mitchell said.
Comments can be sent to Michael
Mitchell, Shasta-Trinity National Forest, P.O. Box 1190,
Weaverville, 96093.
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