Terre Logsdon – Record-Bee staff
LAKEPORT ? The owners of a south county property will soon face a hefty charge for the county having to step in to prevent creek contamination.
With a unanimous vote, the Lake County Board of Supervisors this week approved a $24,542 assessment against the Red Elephant Mine LLC, a former mercury mine located near Middletown.
The fine will pay for remediation work that was done in an effort to avoid contaminating Jericho Creek ? which drains into Lake Berryessa ? with mercury-laden runoff.
County assistant resource planner Ronald Yoder reported to the board on Tuesday that the remediation, which included breaching two dams and stabilizing the soil to prevent stream erosion, was completed by Dec. 15.
The Red Elephant Mine posed a serious environmental hazard to the public and wildlife due to unpermitted embankments being built to create reservoirs.
The mine”s owners, Walter and Wanda Johnson of Santa Rosa, failed to respond or come into compliance with the county”s regulations and, according to CDD staff, they also ignored requirements issued by state agencies.
Yoder reported that the site has been inspected three times since the remediation work was completed, including after the January storms which flooded areas of the county, including Upper Lake.
“Everything held,” Yoder said, which was, “a good thing. They had enormous amounts of water,” going through the property, and “the dams would have burst.”
He added, “It was well worth the effort.”
Contact Terre Logsdon at tlogsdon@record-bee.com.
