Yesterday it was announced that one of Idaho’s most famous fishing streams, Silver Creek, had high levels of mercury contamination in its fish.
This is a real shocker because Silver Creek is a spring fed creek, indicating to me that the mercury blowing up from Nevada’s gold pits into Idaho (and over to Utah) might be enormous.
Today, Nov. 15, Rocky Barker writes about it. Gold glitters into the billions for mercury emitting Nevada mines. Idaho Statesman.
Update Nov. 16. Study: Silver Creek trout tainted with mercury. Idaho Mountain Express. Folks outside of Idaho may have no idea how much money, paid and volunteer effort has been put in to protect this fishing stream. This is major bad news and a lot of people are talking about it.
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is President of the Western Watersheds Project.
Lest it not be forgotten: The Nevada gold mines nearly all have large public lands grazing permits, and are big welfare ranchers.
So they are directly trashing streams in Nevada with cattle manure bacterial pollutants, as well as sending mercury toxins north to rain down on Idaho.
Just at the beginning of the week, I heard about .an NDOW (Nevada Division of Wildlife) fence built with funds from elk tag fees – to keep the dastardly elk from eating Newmont private land cattle grass. Yep — even with gold at a gazillion dollars an ounce – the greed of the Gold Corps. seems to know no limits.
yes, but let’s not leave out ourselves as co-conspirators. Gimme some of dat bling and heart disease………….