The Sierra Fund (TSF) has released the surprising results of a new study called the The Gold Country Recreational Trails and Abandoned Mines Assessment, which indicates that several areas in the Sierra Nevada Foothills are still dangerously contaminated with mining related toxins. The study investigates the long term ramifications of the Gold Rush era, and has found that arsenic, lead and asbestos persist in dangerous levels in several areas frequented by outdoor enthusiasts.
Elizabeth Martin, the CEO of the Sierra Fund, says: “More than 100 years after the end of the Gold Rush era, the environmental, cultural and health impacts of that time have still not been assessed or addressed. Our study documents that these abandoned mines pose a toxic health threat on public lands that are widely used for recreational activities. The time has come for a serious assessment of abandoned mines, and the public needs to be informed about potential exposure to toxic heavy metals and asbestos in areas with abandoned mines.”
The study sites the analyses of soil samples taken from hiking trails and other public areas around abandoned mines, waste rock piles, and mine tailings in Downieville, Nevada City, and Foresthill. Almost half of the soil tested contained dangerous amounts of asbestos dust, and lead was often present at eighteen times the concentration considered safe by state and federal regulations.
The dangerous chemicals are relics from the mining methods employed during the gold mining craze of yesteryear, while the asbestos dust comes from serpentine – a rock that’s abundant throughout California – which has been crushed into powder during mining operations. Exposure to asbestos has been positively linked with the development of mesothelioma, an aggressive and terminal cancer. According to the United States Food and Drug Administration there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.
A spokesman for the Central California division of the Bureau of Land Management says that decontaminating the area is virtually impossible because the pollutants are so abundant and so thoroughly blended with the surrounding terrain. The Sierra Fund is advocating the placement of warning signs in the area, and the restriction of public access to specifically dangerous areas.