I”ve made it my business to stay informed and involved throughout the Superfund cleanup project at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine in the Oaks. It”s my neighbor. I reside close enough to that site to be wary of the water I drink (our only source is the lake; we pump and treat our own water), the soil and dust on our gravel entry road and in my own yard.
My few neighbors and I have put our trust and faith in the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to do the best job possible in the removal of mine-related contamination from all these essentials. Their awesome challenge is interrupted by political and fiscal constraints and sometimes, even Mother Nature gets in the way of their work.
The EPA funded a grant which has provided our community with an excellent technical advisor, Dr. D. McGinnis, an environmental scientist who monitors the EPA”s plans and work. He is in our corner, advocating for our needs and intervening whenever necessary. The EPA”s employees, whether geologist, hydrologist, heavy equipment operator, project manager or community outreach coordinator, have proven to be a stellar bunch ? anxious to do a good job, while exhibiting skill and a strong work ethic. Yes, I”m beholden to those folks. Their goal, I”m convinced, is to protect our quality of life and the quality of our lake.
I don”t mind singing praises for the EPA, but I”m really moved to do so after reading a Sept. 18 article in the Record-Bee titled “Abandoned mercury mines: pollution of waterway,” with a sub-headline of “The Sulphur Bank Mine has made nearby Clear Lake the most mercury-polluted lake in the world.”
This article”s author obviously had an agenda ? to slam the EPA and its efforts to clean up mercury-contaminated mine sites in California. Two thousand such sites are quoted. I”ve learned that an abandoned mine can be as simple as what”s left behind after a couple of old hopefuls let go a stick or two of dynamite, then walked away, leaving their mess.
The Associated Press (AP) “investigator” suggests the existence of dire health risks to “at least 100,000,” then helps prove his point by skewing blood test results for mercury levels “done by the state of California, in a group of Elem Native Americans. They live on one edge of Sulphur Bank Mine”s border and contaminated mine-related materials were often used in the construction of their homes and roads. “Elevated (mercury) levels averaging three times higher (in Elem) than in people not eating tainted fish,” and one member of the test group was cited to be “at immediate risk of brain damage, or other harm.” I will quote the study”s actual results in very simple terms: The “normal” range for mercury in the blood is from 0 to 20. Studies usually lean toward a level of 200 before signs of beginning mercury toxicity can be noted. The fellow with “immediate risk of brain damage” had a blood-mercury level of just 38. Rick Sugarek, project manager for EPAs cleanup action at Sulphur Bank Mine, provided the article”s author with these numerical results while the author was still researching the article.
The article portrays the EPA as a willy-nilly agency, unsure and uncaring, randomly choosing to clean up only a very few contaminated mine sites and then doing a haphazard job of it.
I believe that the priority used by the EPA when choosing a site is always relative to the existence of real or potential health hazards to nearby residents and their environment. Old mines with contained contaminants, located in remote areas and posing little health risk are apparently lower on the list for cleanup.
I cringed at the article”s depiction of Clear Lake; suggesting it”s unsafe for swimming, drinking or fishing. There is a fish advisory for eating Clear Lake”s fish, but it”s less restrictive than in many other lakes. The Davis Creek Reservoir”s fish contain three times the mercury over those caught in Clear Lake (California Wild Magazine, California Academy of Sciences, 2004). Clear Lake supplies residential drinking water that is treated and monitored. Nearer the Superfund site, the EPA tests our water extensively and the mercury, and other heavy metal levels, remains low, fortunately. The article in question is another example of how Clear Lake, historically and consistently, gets negative press, while scientific data is overlooked.
I do encourage Lake County”s residents to also carefully follow the progress at the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine Superfund site. The prevention and cessation of mine- related methyl-mercury contamination of our beloved lake is everyone”s business.
Colleen Beardsley, RNC, is a board member of Clear Lake Environmental Action Network (C.L.E.A.N.).
