More Precious than Gold: Film & Panel Discussion on the Proposed San Juan Ridge Mine

What are the potential impacts on the Yuba Watershed? 

April 16, 2014

7:00-9:00 PM

Nevada Theatre, 401 Broad Street, Nevada City

Doors open at 6:30pm

SYRCL is teaming up with the San Juan Ridge Taxpayer’s Association and Synergia Learning Ventures to present “More Precious than Gold,” a film screening and panel discussion on the proposed reopening of the San Juan Ridge Mine. This event is free and open to the public, although donations are much appreciated.

Abandoned goldmines from a bygone era litter the Sierra foothills. One of those mines is located on the San Juan Ridge in the South Yuba River watershed. This mine was last in operation in the 1990s, with disastrous effects on local wells and streams, yet the proposal to reopen the mine is currently active and will be decided soon.

At its peak, the proposed mine would pump up to 3.7 million gallons of water out of the ground every day. This water would then be discharged onto the mining site, which encompasses the headwaters of Spring Creek and Shady Creek, both tributaries of the South Yuba River. As happened in the 1990s, excess mine water could scour local streambeds down to bedrock and discharge untreated water directly into the South Yuba River.

The panel features community leaders from several organizations who will discuss the environmental and economic ramifications of reopening the mine. The film is a project of Tom and Debra Weistar, who live about a mile from the mine site and whose well was affected in the 1990s. The film features many local environmental and community leaders.

Please join us on April 16^th at the Nevada Theatre for this important dialogue with updates on the proposed mine and the Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process. Come learn what you can do to help protect our water, and the Yuba watershed. The permit for the San Juan Ridge Mine is decided at the local level, so citizen input from all supervisorial districts of Nevada County will make a difference. Please join the conversation.

The Panel:

James Berardi- Twin Ridges Elementary School District

Caleb Dardick- South Yuba River Citizens League

Sol Henson- San Juan Ridge Taxpayer’s Association and hydrologist

Izzy Martin- The Sierra Fund

Hank Meals- historian and archeologist

Gary Parsons- San Juan Ridge Taxpayer’s Association

Debra Weistar- moderator, filmmaker

Refreshments will be available for sale.  For more information contact Andrew Collins-Anderson, Andrew@syrcl.org or 530-265-5961 Ext. 203