Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation of significant news articles and comment
January 25, 2008
4. Water Quality
MERCURY CLEANUP:
NID seeks funding for mercury clean-up; Contamination seen as widespread problem in foothill lakes and rivers -
CHEMICAL SPILL:
Spill kills fish; Shampoo ingredient tainted Buckeye Creek on Jan. 15 - Redding Record Searchlight
MERCURY CLEANUP:
NID seeks funding for mercury clean-up; Contamination seen as widespread problem in foothill lakes and rivers
Grass Valley
By Laura Brown, staff writer
Mercury contamination from mining practices 150 years ago is a widespread problem affecting many Sierra foothill lakes and rivers, and it poses a health danger to humans who enjoy eating wild caught fish.
Environmental groups, water and government agencies and tribal leaders are looking at mercury and ways to deal with it in the future.
In the latest step toward clean-up, Nevada Irrigation District's board of directors agreed to submit an application with other groups for a $1 million grant to remove mercury from Combie Reservoir.
Mercury extraction on Combie and the Bear River that feeds it could serve as a pilot project for others, including the removal of toxic mercury buildup behind Englebright dam on the
"We need to be thinking long term. This region needs ambitious clean-up efforts," Rainey said.
The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service has been working to clean up abandoned mine sites on a small scale throughout the county, including the Boston Mine project in the Greenhorn area.
A project facilitated by Friends of Deer Creek and funded by the Environmental Protection Agency is underway to clean up five abandoned mine sites along Deer Creek within Nevada City limits.
This Saturday, the Tsi-Akim Maidu tribe will meet with environmental groups and tribes from
"We're educating people. We want to clean it up," said Don Ryberg, director of the Tsi-Akim.
Miners used mercury to extract gold from mined materials. The waste was then discharged into streams where it accumulated in the sediment.
Mercury contamination builds up behind dams and does not decompose over time. Many reservoirs in
Though elemental mercury poses little risk to humans, excessive exposure to the organic form called methylmercury found in fish, can cause damage to the nervous system of developing children, according to health experts. Subtle decreases in learning ability, language skills, attention and memory can result.
In general, public land agencies responsible for cleaning up toxins remain under-funded, said eco- hydrologist Carrie Monohan, a consultant for NID and Friends of Deer Creek, Monohan said.
Ryberg said the state and federal governments have a responsibility to clean up the problem.
"They are our leaders. Aren't they supposed to keep us from getting poisoned? They have an obligation to all the people to do something about it, whatever the cost," Ryberg said.
If NID and other groups win a grant for Proposition 50 funding, the water agency could apply new mercury-extraction technology from
"What we're doing is a type of cleanup that hasn't been done before," said Tim Crough, assistant manager for NID.
Monohan, Charlie Alpers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Chevreaux Aggregates, Nevada County Resource District and the NID are working together on the project.
Chevreaux Aggregates has agreed to dredge the sediment.
"As they remove the sediments, we'll remove the mercury," Crough said.
A centrifuge would spin and force the sediment and mercury to separate. The remaining sand and clay could be sold to Idaho-Maryland Mine's offshoot company, Golden Bear Ceramics, to make ceramic tiles, Crough said.
"It's a win-win for the environment, the water district and the customer. We just need a little help from the feds to get it started," Crough said. #
http://www.theunion.com/article/20080125/NEWS/705570094
CHEMICAL SPILL:
Spill kills fish; Shampoo ingredient tainted Buckeye Creek on Jan. 15
Redding Record Searchlight – 1/25/08
A main ingredient of shampoo spilled into a north
Workers with National Response Corporation Environmental Services in
“That stuff is a lot more toxic than people think and the fish are proving it,” said Jane Vorpagel, a water quality biologist with the state Department of Fish and Game.
The chemical — sodium laureth sulfate — causes shampoo to foam and kills fish by clogging up their gills, she said.
“It basically smothers them to death,” Vorpagel said.
Less than 100 gallons of the foaming agent spilled from a storage tank onto Kematen’s parking lot Jan. 15, according a statement released Thursday by Morgan Barker, Kematen’s marketing and sales project coordinator.
The liquid was being delivered to the plant by a tanker truck about 10:45 a.m. that Tuesday, said Lt. Scott Willems, patrol supervisor with Fish and Game. A valve was left open and the liquid poured out of the storage tank that was being filled and onto the parking lot.
While most of the spill was collected in the lot, some got down a storm drain, which leads into an unnamed tributary to Buckeye Creek, said Jim Pedri, assistant executive officer for the Regional Water Quality Control Board. From Buckeye Creek, the water flows into Churn Creek, which flows into the
“A lot more was spilled that got into the creek,” he said.
Water board officials are evaluating whether the company will be fined for the spill, Pedri said, and are taking the cleanup effort into account.
Kematen has four plants in Europe, as well as the
While the spill happened about the middle of last week, Willems said he waited to put the word out about it because he had to get approval from his chain of command. He said that includes his patrol captain, assistant chief and then officials in
Willems said he’s gotten approval to release information about future spills when they happened, rather than withholding the information.
The creek cleanup will last as long as the toxic liquid is detected. A quick test of the water can be done with a hand or a stick, said Brian Boyd, a Fish and Game warden.
“If you run your hand through the water, it will bubble up pretty good,” he said.
Cleanup crews have built a small dam, allowing the contaminated water to be pumped into tanker trucks and then put into the sewer system, said Vorpagel, the water quality biologist. #
http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jan/25/spill-kills-fish/
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