Circulate petition against cyanide in mining

HELENA -- District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena this week issued a harsh blow to any prospects of developing the dormant McDonald gold mine near Lincoln, firmly upholding a 1998 voter-enacted mining ban.

Sherlock said the 1998 ban on open-pit, cyanide heap-leach gold mines does not violate constitutional contract rights and is not taking any property, because the mine developers never had any "property" to take.

His order issued late Monday dismissed the lawsuit brought by the mine developers and other mining interests. State solicitor Brian Morris on Tuesday called the 23-page order a "big win for the state" and the people's right to regulate the mining industry or any industry.

"The court recognized that it's up to the voters of Montana rather than a court, what level of regulations are needed for the mining industry," he said. "We likely have a long way to go (with this case), given the federal appeals process, but at this stage, it's a big victory for the state."

The environmental activist who wrote the mining ban also hailed the ruling, and said it's become clear that Montana voters made the right decision.

State and federal taxpayers already are on the hook for clean-up at heap-leach gold mines permitted in Montana before the ban was approved, and the ban is preventing future liabilities for the taxpayers, said Jim Jensen of the Montana Environmental Information Center.

"This ruling ... shows that none of the statements made by the mining industry during the campaign (for) Initiative 137 were true," he said. "They said it was illegal and that the people of Montana would pay hundreds of millions of dollars (in damage payments) if it passed. ...

"In fact, I-137 will save Montana taxpayers many millions of dollars, because the (heap-leach) technology simply doesn't work."

Jensen noted that state money has been used to fix clean-up problems at the closed Beal Mountain mine south of Anaconda, and that taxpayers may face huge costs to help clean up defunct open-pit gold mines near Zortman and Hilger.

Sherlock's order likely will be appealed to the Montana Supreme Court, and a similar lawsuit exists in federal court.

The president of Canyon Resources Corp., a main plaintiff in the lawsuit, said late Tuesday he hasn't had a chance to review the decision.

"Canyon Resources is certainly disappointed in the judge's ruling," said Dick DeVoto from his office in Golden, Colo. "We have suspected all along that we might have to go to the Montana Supreme Court or our (lawsuit) in federal court. We'll be meeting with our attorneys to decide what to do."

Canyon Resources is chief partner in the Seven Up-Pete Joint Venture, which had been attempting to develop the McDonald gold mine before Montana voters narrowly approved I-137 in November 1998.

The company and its predecessors said they spent $70 million as they tried to obtain a permit for a huge open-pit mine east of Lincoln. But I-137 banned the method they planned to use to extract gold from the ore.

Canyon Resources stopped development efforts at the mine site and began preparing a lawsuit, which it filed in November 2000 in state and federal court.

The twin lawsuits said the mining company had an expectation that the state would process its mining permit application, and that I-137 violated contractual rights by halting that process. They also said if I-137 is upheld, it amounts to an illegal "taking" of property without compensation.

Sherlock, however, said Joint Venture signed mineral leases with the state that said the company would "fully comply with all applicable state and federal laws, rules and regulations," and also agreed to bound by any future environmental regulations.

None of the written documents required the state to allow open-pit mining with cyanide heap-leaching, nor ensured mine developers would get a permit, and therefore no contract was violated, he said.

"While (a decision on the permit) is certainly the expectation of the Venture, the state made no such agreement," Sherlock wrote. "Thus, the impairment was not of the parties' contract, but was of the Venture's desires."

Sherlock also said that no property "takings" occurred because the Venture had no property right to be taken.

The mine developers had a right to seek a mining permit "subject to existing and future environmental regulations," he wrote, but that action does not constitute property.

"What I-137 prohibited was open-pit, cyanide heap-leach mining," Sherlock wrote. "The Venture did not have a property right to conduct that type of mining on the leases here in question."

Clark Fork Coalition
* Mineral Policy Center Montana Environmental Information Center

June 26, 2002 -- The Beal Mountain Mine, a cyanide heap leach operation once touted by the mining industry as a prime example of an environmentally friendly mine, is dumping toxic pollutants into neighboring trout streams, according to documents recently released by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ).

The now-defunct mine, which sits atop the Continental Divide near Anaconda, was owned by Pegasus Gold Corp., a Canadian firm. Pegasus filed for bankruptcy in 1998, leaving state and federal agencies responsible for millions of dollars in water treatment and reclamation costs.

DEQ has found cyanide levels downstream of the mine as high as 23 parts per billion, and selenium levels up to 6 parts per billion. Both levels exceed legal limits, and are toxic to aquatic life.

"Selenium is a particularly nasty pollutant because it accumulates in fish and insects, and spreads throughout the food chain," said Matt Clifford, conservation director for the Clark Fork Coalition. We could be dealing with this problem for many years to come."

Ironically, Beal Mountain was once touted as a "model" mine by the mining industry. During the campaign for the 1996 citizen's initiative (I-122) to tighten water quality laws, the industry ran TV ads showing a housewife drinking water said to be from a stream directly below the mine.

"I would sure like to see them drink that water now," said Jeff Barber of the Montana Environmental Information Center. "Someday this state is going to learn that promises from the mining industry always turn out to be fool's gold."

The state has already exhausted the $6.3 million reclamation bond that was supposed to cover the reclamation of the mine. DEQ estimates that the site will cost at least another $5-7 million for long-term water treatment and maintenance. The U.S. Forest Service has contributed $2 million for the installation of a biotreatment system last year.

Beal Mountain is not the only mess Pegasus left for taxpayers to clean up. The Zortman/Landusky mine, located south of the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, has such severe acid mine drainage that it will require water treatment in perpetuity. State and federal agencies have determined that reclamation and water treatment will cost $30 million more than the site's reclamation bond.

"The bottom line is that state and federal agencies have consistently failed in predicting the impacts of these large mines," says Bonnie Gestring of the Mineral Policy Center. "Eight of the 12 major mines in Montana have developed severe water quality problems that were never predicted by the agency or the company when they were permitted. Now, Montanans are paying the price."

Beal Mountain is currently applying for a permit to discharge its waste into German Gulch, Beefstraight Creek and Minnesota Gulch. If approved, the mine would be authorized to use 3.5 miles of stream as a "mixing zone" to dilute its wastewater.

"It's awfully hard to see how the state can grant this permit without running afoul of state water quality laws," said Clifford, who would not rule out a legal challenge to the permit. "It's unfortunate that government agencies are on the hook for the cost of properly treating this pollution, but you have to remember that they're the ones who permitted this mess in the first place, without getting an adequate bond."

Clifford went on to note that just last year, the same state and federal agencies issued a permit for the proposed Rock Creek Mine near Noxon - also without requiring a bond to cover long-term water treatment. "How may times will history have to repeat itself before the government finally wises up?" he said.

ARM answers CC&V letter

To the Editor:

The Alliance for Responsible Mining seeks to halt the spread of new open-pit cyanide gold mines in Colorado in order to protect our precious water resources.

This letter is in response to a recent editorial from Don Ewigleben, Vice President of the Cripple Creek and Victor Mining Co.

In his letter he argues that a ban on new open pit cyanide leach gold mines is unnecessary. He says Colorado's mining laws are tough, the government regulatory agencies are enforcing these laws to the letter, and the mining companies that have operated in this state adhere to the "highest environmental standards."

Unfortunately, this picture simply does not translate into reality, Contrary to their assertions that Colorado's mining law is the "most stringent in the United States," it lags far behind those in neighboring western states.

For instance, New Mexico requires that mines be designed so as to eliminate the need for perpetual water treatment, a provision utterly lacking in Colorado Law.

Montana law outlaws open-pit cyanide leach gold mines in their entirety. It is hard to imagine how one could even argue that the laws in Colorado are more protective than in either New Mexico or Montana.

CC&V argues the state's Mined Land Reclamation Board (MLRB) must by law include a detailed explanation of all expansion plans prior to their approval.

However, in CC&V's most recent expansion approval, the company proposed to construct a brand new facility for the rinsing of cyanide-laced rock.

This application was unanimously approved by the MLRB despite the fact that the company presented no engineering plans for this toxic chemical facility.

Such blind approvals are reminiscent of the Summitville days, where a mining company proposes to build facilities to handle toxic cyanide and the plan is rubber-stamped by the MLRB.

In this case citizens are left without even the most basic information as to how such a cyanide-rinsing facility will be designed.

As far as Colorado's mining industry adhering to the "highest environmental standards," all of Colorado's open pit cyanide gold mines have been plagued with unacceptable surface and ground water contamination.

Summitville needs no explanation. At Battle Mountain Gold surface water contamination may require perpetual water treatment.

The long-term impact on ground water is unknown and worrisome to those living in and around San Luis. In fact, the EPA went so far as to give a grant to those citizens to investigate what options they have in case the town's water supply becomes contaminated.

With respect to CC&V's claims that its mine operates under the "highest environmental standards," this assertion is belied by the company's own actions. As early as 1995, and again in 1998, the company was before the state Water Quality Control Commission seeking to drastically lower water quality standards for toxic heavy metals in the Arkansas River headwater streams.

As recently as November 2001, the company was given before the commission arguing for a permanent reduction of the standard for how acidic its water discharges can be. With few exceptions, the state water quality officials have accepted all of CC&V's proposals.

CC&V also states that there is no basis to the claim that it has violated the Clean Water Act. However, just last year, the EPA issued a letter entitled "Notice of Violation" stating that "unlawful discharges from the Cresson Mine Project and associated facilities have occurred and CC&V is found to have violated Section 301(a) of the Act."

The state agencies and CC&V attempt to counter this clear language by claiming that the violations were a result of multiple separate "exceptional incidents" involving high levels of precipitation.

However, as any Coloradan knows, heavy snow and rain at 10,000 feet in the Rocky Mountains is hardly unexpected or exceptional. The fact that these "exceptional incidents" continue to occur is evidence that they are commonplace enough.

Faced with the company's excuses and the state's unwillingness to take action on the EPS's Notices of Violations, local citizens from the Victor area have had to resort to the extraordinary course of suing the company directly in Federal Court.

Overall, by repeatedly arguing for the reduction of water quality standards instead of improving the mine to meet the existing standards, as well as attempting to sidestep its responsibilities under the Clean Water Act, CC&V has failed to live up to the claim that it operates under the "highest environmental standards."

The Department of Natural Resources asserts, "increased on-site inspection, higher bonding requirements and community review of environmental plans are adequate to meet the goals of both industry and the affected communities at designated mining operations."

However, a quick review of some common community goals demonstrates the failure of open-pit cyanide gold mining to meet even the most fundamental community needs.

The vital community goal of developing a healthy sustainable economy is important. Surely a big new mine would help a small town's economy? Yet the San Luis Chamber of Commerce endorses the bill to stop the spread of cyanide leach gold mines. They have experienced the full cycle of the boom-bust economy brought to them by Battle Mountain Gold. Rather than wealth, it brought them degradation of their natural resources and difficult economic times.

Unfortunately, the two are closely linked. How about the common community goal of safeguarding water quality? Agriculture, our recreation industry, and ultimately our public health, depend on a supply of clean water. Regrettably, these mines have invariably left Colorado communities with degraded water quality.

Perpetual water treatment is often needed. The SLV Cattlemen's Association, the Rocky Mountain Farmers Union, and the Colorado Acequia Association all support legislation to stop new open-pit cyanide gold mines in order to protect the water interests of agriculture.

Trout Unlimited strongly endorses this legislation in order to protect our wildlife and recreation industry.

Valley-Wide Health Services, whose clinics span from Durango to La Junta endorsed this legislation because they understand that the health of a community is only as god as the quality of that community's water.

All of the Colorado counties that have been directly affected by the opening and closing of one of these mines have come out in support of legislation to halt the spread of open-pit cyanide gold mines.

Other rural counties at risk from this kind of mining have endorsed this legislation because they know how important prevention is.

To date, County Commissioners from Conejos, Costilla, Rio Grande, Park, Ouray, Patkin and Chaffee Counties have all unanimously endorsed this legislation.

On February 28, 2002 the County Commissioners of Rio Grande County became the seventh county to write a letter of support for our bill to stop new open-pit cyanide gold mines in Colorado.

In it they state, "being a county who has dealt with the problems caused by cyanide heap leaching, we understand the danger and damage that can result."

We do not spread fear as alleged by CC&V; we only speak from our experience of living next to this type of mine. By advocating for this important mining reform we would hold out the hope of leaving our children a world with clean streams and rivers.

It is our responsibility to make sure that never again will any community in Colorado have to live through what we have.

At this point, the bill to ban new open pit cyanide leach gold mines, having obtained all the required signatures for a late bill introduction, is being blocked by State Senate President Stan Matusunaka.

Despite our efforts to pressure him to assign the bill to a committee, it is unclear if the bill will be introduced this year.

Even if the mining industry's efforts to stop the introduction of this bill succeed for now, we will continue the struggle.

We have more support than ever before. We extend our warmest thanks to the hundreds of dedicated Colorado Citizens who are helping bring this issue to the forefront. With the support of the people of Colorado, the grassroots effort to halt the spread of this irresponsible, failed technology will ultimately succeed.

Clarence Martin, member-SLV Cattlemen's, Sanford; Ignacio Rodriguez, Summitville TAG, Capulin; Colin Henderson, M.D., president ARM, La Jara; Bill Patterson, Western Colorado Congress, Montrose; Jeff Parsons, Denver; Carmi McLean, Clean Water Action, Denver; Mark Heller, High Country Citizens Allaince, Crested Butte; Charlie Jaquez, Citizens for Environmental Soundness, San Luis; Herb Schumacher, member-Republicans for Environmental Protection, Buena Vista; and Marchall Winblood, vice president, ARM, Victor

Cyanide ban upheld; other part of suit OK'd

HELENA - A state judge on Thursday upheld Montana's 1998 anti-cyanide mining law as constitutional on several fronts and reduced to a contract battle the lawsuit against the state filed by the company that wanted to develop an open-pit gold mine near Lincoln.

District Judge Jeffrey Sherlock of Helena dismissed four claims in a suit against the state filed by Canyon Resources and others who planned the Seven-Up Pete Joint Venture Gold Mine near Lincoln. He left in place one constitutional challenge against the voter-approved Initiative-137, which prohibits new cyanide heap-leach gold mines in Montana.

Tossed out were the company's claim that anti-cyanide mining initiative was flawed in its process and others that argued the state exceeded its authority in quashing the mine.

But the judge left intact several of Canyon's claims, primarily one that I-137 was an unconstitutional "taking" of private property because the state violated a contract it had with the company to allow it to mine the land. Sherlock said he'll consider further evidence on that count. The case now centers around whether the company's state leases on the land constituted binding contracts to allow the company to mine.

Both sides claimed victory on Thursday and said the judge had cleared the way for the case to get down to its nuts-and-bolts - whether the state ban on new open-pit cyanide mines broke what the company argued was a contract to mine the property.

"We think it's a significant ruling in our favor," Brian Morris, state solicitor for the Department of Justice. "It removes all the extraneous issues."

"Now it really boils down to whether I-137 constitutes a takings," he added.

Canyon attorney Alan Joscelyn of Helena said Sherlock's dismissal of several of the company's claims was not a defeat.

"Basically, what the decision does is leave our case intact with respect to a claim that I-137 is unconstitutional," Joscelyn said. "Essentially, the judge did what we asked him to do, which was give us the opportunity to present proof."

Colorado-based Canyon Resources and several others plaintiffs sued the state in April 2000, arguing that if the state didn't let them mine the property, they ought to be financially compensated for their losses. Company officials have said the state would need to pay them around $500 million to cover their losses.

Morris said that although Sherlock agreed to let the company pursue its argument that the state broke a contract with the company, the judge's decision spoke skeptically of the company's case.

"We think the statements in the order indicate the judge is inclined to view this in our way, that they didn't have the right to mine," said Morris.

In his ruling, Sherlock said the company's lease "does not appear to excuse plaintiffs from subsequent regulations now to guarantee the permitting of any particular mining operation."

Still, the judge said, he will allow Canyon to present further evidence because, "without further briefing regarding the intent and effect of the various agreements entered subsequent to the lease agreements, this court is hesitant to dismiss these claims at this stage."

Joscelyn disagreed that the judge's comments bade ill for Canyon's case.

"Everybody will read the decision and come to their own conclusions," he said. "The long and short of it is, we got what we asked for and we're ready to go."

www.billingsgazette.com/archive.php?section=local&display=rednews/2001/11/02/build/local/40-minelaws.inc

Bad news just in: Proponents of a ballot initiative in Colorado that would ban surface gold and silver mining using cyanide processing reagents missed last week's deadline for submitting the requisite number of signatures to appear on the ballot in Nov.

Signatures are required to be submitted to the Sec. of State's office in order for such initiaives to appear on a general election ballot.

"My congratulations go to Anglo Gold North America, the Colorado Mining Association and all the other folks who worked so hard to bring the downfall of this ill-conceived proposal", NMA Pres. and CEO Richard Lawson said. "Their efforts really paid off in telling people of Colorado how important mining is to the state's economy and how modern mining is being done in an environmentally sound manner." "Anglo Gold and its allies, including CMA, deserve all the credit on this one."

Stuart A Sanderson, pres. of the CMA, said the proponents of the anti-mining initiative "just could not gather sufficient support for their effort. Opposition to the proposal grew larger than support for the initiative."

It is understood that Colorado law prevents the anti-mining groups from reproposing this initiative until the year 2002.

WATER MORE PRECIOUS THAN GOLD IN COLORADO:
Colorado citizens are targeting huge open-pit gold mines in an effort to ban cyanide mining, a controversial practice where cyanide solution is sprayed over piles of ore to "leach" out the gold.

Following a successful 1998 Montana effort, citizens are proposing a ballot initiative that would ban cyanide gold mining in the state.

According to the Christian Science Monitor (4/24), last week the Alliance for Responsible Mining began gathering signatures to put the issue on the November ballot. According to recent polls, the ban already has the support of 72% of the public. Local ranchers and farmers, as well as conservationists, are working to stop this dangerous and destructive practice.

"This initiative is coming from traditional farmers and ranchers, who are sixth and seventh-generation residents," said Roger Flynn, director of the Western Mining Action Project in Boulder, CO. "It is not an Old West-New West battle."

Colorado citizens are concerned about cyanide contaminating local streams, rivers and ground water. Open-pit gold mines have a history of environmental and public health disasters, both in the United States and abroad.

About 10 years ago in Colorado, the Summitville mine spilled cyanide into the Alamosa River, killing aquatic life for 17 miles.

"I don't think it's right for people to pollute our streams with cyanide to get gold," explains Clarence Martin, a retired rancher and Colorado native. "You can't eat gold, and you can't drink it."

The Alliance for Responsible Mining is looking for more people interested in helping this effort.

For more information, contact them at (719) 274-0322 or visit http://www.responsiblemining.org.

Colorado, U.S.A.: In Colorado, spills of cyanide and other contaminants from the Summitville gold mine, owned by Galactic Resources Ltd, contributed to severe environmental problems on a 17-mile stretch of the Alamosa River. The mine was opened in 1986, and abandoned in 1992. It is now a federal Superfund site. Estimated total cleanup costs range from $170-200 million.

Montana, U.S.A.: Pegasus Corporation recently closed the Zortman-Landusky gold mine in Montana. Opened in 1979, it was the first large-scale cyanide heap leach mine in the United States. The mine experienced repeated leaks and discharges of cyanide solution throughout its operating life, resulting in wildlife deaths and severe contamination of streams and groundwater.

In 1998, Montana voters passed Initiative 137, which banned cyanide heap and vat leaching of metallic ores. The Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality reported that between 1982 and 1998 there were 62 spills or leaks of cyanide, some of which killed fish and wildlife. Montana voters approved the ban by a 52 - 48% vote. Legal challenges have failed to overturn the ban.

Nevada, U.S.A.: Following the failure of a leach pad structure in 1997, the Gold Quarry mine in Nevada released about 245,000 gallons of cyanide-laden waste into two local creeks. In 1989 and 1990, a series of eight cyanide leaks occurred at Echo Bay Company's McCoy/Cove gold mine in Nevada, releasing a total of almost 900 pounds of cyanide into the environment.

South Dakota, U.S.A.: On May 29, 1998, six to seven tons of cyanide-laced tailings spilled from the Homestake Mine into Whitewood Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota, resulting in a substantial fish kill. It is likely to be years before the stream fully recovers.

BBC: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/

Sources available on request. Contact Dave Blouin, Mining Impact Coalition, 608-233-8455, or email, burroak15@aol.com

Cyanide is the most popular chemical used by mining corporations to extract gold from ore, despite the fact that leaks or spills of this chemical are extremely toxic to fish, plant life and human beings. In recent years communities in Montana and Turkey have successfully challenged this deadly practice, setting standards for the rest of the world.

The term "cyanide" refers to numerous compounds, both natural and human-made, having the chemical group CN, that is, one atom of carbon and one atom of nitrogen. Hydrogen cyanide is a colorless gas or liquid with a faint, bitter almond odor. Sodium cyanide (the processing chemical which mining companies use) is a colorless solid with a slight odor of bitter almonds.

In 1994 there were 36 companies operating 44 hydrogen cyanide production facilities with a total production capacity of over one billion kilograms in the United States, Western Europe and Japan. DuPont is the dominant world producer with about 38% of total capacity, either totally or partially owned; no other producer has above a 7% world capacity share.

Cyanide combines with up to 97% of gold, including particles of gold that are too small to be seen by the naked eye, making it one of the most efficient process chemicals for the extraction of the metal. The most popular technology that utilizes this chemical property, cyanide leaching, has gained wide use since the 1960s, after it was promoted by the United States Bureau of Mines to replace the older mercury amalgamation processes.

Cyanide leaching involves spraying a sodium cyanide solution (at 250 to 500 parts per million) on finely ground ore or on old waste rock, known as tailings. The gold forms a water-soluble chemical compound with the cyanide called a "pregnant solution" which is then run over activated carbon to extract the gold. The cyanide waste that is left over is supposed to be stored in lined and covered ponds to prevent contact with local animals and birds. Some companies process the ore in vats allowing the cyanide to be recycled, but most operations store the waste cyanide in ponds with plastic liners that break easily, allowing the solution to contaminate the ground water.

Popular concern over this technique has focused on the lethal impact of cyanide. A teaspoonful of two-percent solution of cyanide can kill a human adult. Cyanide blocks the absorption of oxygen by cells, causing the victim to effectively "suffocate." Human exposure to high levels of cyanide for a short period harms the central nervous system, respiratory system, and cardiovascular system. Short-term exposure to high levels of cyanide (110 parts per million) can cause coma and/or death within 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Cyanide impacts fish at far lower concentrations. Concentrations as low as five micrograms per liter have been found to inhibit fish reproduction, and adverse impacts have been reported at levels of ten micrograms per liter. This toxicity increases with any reduction in dissolved oxygen below 100%, and increases three-fold with a 12 degree celsius decrease in temperature.

What the mining companies say ...

Mining and regulatory documents often state that cyanide in water rapidly breaks down in the presence of sunlight and oxygen, into largely harmless substances such as carbon dioxide and nitrate. They also insist there have been no reported cases of human death from cyanide spills. Also scientific studies show that cyanide swallowed by fish will not "bio-accumulate" which means it does not pose a risk to anyone who eats the fish.

... and what mining companies don't tell you

Although cyanide solution eventually breaks down in the presence of sunlight and air at pH neutral conditions, it will not do so when it seeps underground, under cloudy or rainy conditions such as are seen in tropical countries, or during winter in cold countries when lakes or streams may have snow and ice cover and temperatures are reduced. If the cyanide solution is slightly acidic, it can turn into cyanide gas, which is extremely toxic. Furthermore, if the solution is alkaline the cyanide does not break down.

Robert Moran, a geo-chemical expert, has found cyanide-contaminated sediments at a cobalt-nickel mine in Missouri that contained many milligrams per kilogram of total cyanide more than 25 years after all processing had ceased. Samples of bricks, concrete, plaster and mortar from buildings at the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camps collected about 45 years after all use of cyanide ceased still showed detectable concentrations of cyanide, presumably as iron cyanides.

Most importantly, not all of the cyanide used in mineral processing breaks down quickly into largely harmless substances. Many of the breakdown compounds, are still toxic to aquatic organisms, and may persist in the environment for significant periods of time. Some of these toxic breakdown forms include the free cyanides, metal-cyanide complexes, organic-cyanide compounds, cyanogen chloride, cyanates, thiocyanates, chloramines, and ammonia.

Of these, cyanate is the main form of cyanide resulting from most cyanide decomposition processes employed at mineral process sites. Cyanate may persist in water for significant, but undefined periods of time. Ammonia, another breakdown product, is considered to be about as toxic to fish as cyanide. Some data indicate that the combined effect of ammonia and cyanide is greater than would be assumed on the basis of their individual toxicities. Thiocyanates cause "sudden death syndrome" in trout, partly as a response to stress, and because, unlike free cyanides, thiocyanate is accumulated. Other breakdown chemicals like cyanogen chloride may be more toxic to fish than free cyanides.

Official Standards

The current United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) water quality criterion for cyanide, set in 1986, is 5.2 micrograms per liter (g/L) for freshwater aquatic life, and 1.0 (g/L for marine aquatic life and wildlife (1986). Yet no criteria exist for other toxic cyanide-related compounds, including cyanate, thiocyanate, cyanogen chloride and the metal-cyanide complexes.

Cyanide levels in the workplace are regulated by the United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). OSHA has a legally enforceable exposure limit of 5 milligrams of cyanide per cubic centimeter of air (mg/cm3) for cyanide and 11 mg/cm3 (or 10 ppm) hydrogen cyanide in air for an 8-hour workday, 40-hour workweek. The United States National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), however, recommends that employee exposure to hydrogen cyanide and cyanide salts should not be more than 5 mg/m3 in air for a 10-minute sampling period.

Two Communities Fight Back

The community of Bergama, Turkey, was the first to win a legal ban on cyanide. In May 1997 the highest Turkish administrative court overturned approval given by the Department of Environment for the proposed Eurogold project after a rally by 10,000 local people with 1,000 tractors occupied the mine site. The judgment was based on the Turkish Constitution and its guarantee of a healthy and intact environment. The court found that a cyanide-based mining technology was at odds with these constitutional rights.

And voters in the north-western state of Montana approved a ballot measure on November 3, 1998 banning the use of cyanide to extract gold. The community decided to take this initiative after years of suffering dozens of toxic leaks from local mines. For example, the indigenous Assiniboine and Gros Ventre peoples had to battle for years in court to force Pegasus, a Canadian gold mining company, to clean up cyanide waste on the Fort Belknap reservation in the Little Rocky Mountains of Montana. Although the community won the lawsuit in 1996 the company declared bankruptcy the following year thwarting clean-up efforts.

US-based mining company Canyon Resources has filed a lawsuit against the state of Montana in an attempt to recover what it claims will be US$600 million in lost revenue because of a recent ban on the use of cyanide in gold mining. The suit will also challenge Initiative 137 passed by voters into state law in 1998. The initiative prohibits any new open-pit gold or silver mine from using cyanide to process ore. Head of Canyon Resources, Dick DeVoto said that his company will not contest the constitutionality of the initiative, but will concede that the company was wrongly deprived of the value of its mining property because of the ban.

According to DeVoto, talk among the mining industry indicates that the cyanide ban has put Montana off limits to the mining industry.

SOURCES: "Cyanide - Gold's Killing Companion", by Project Underground, October 1999; "CRANDON PROPOSAL--CYANIDE ISSUES", by Dave Blouin, Mining Impact Coalition, February 2000.

Project Underground
Supporting communities threatened by the mining and oil industries 1916A Martin Luther King Jr Way, Berkeley, CA 94703
TEL: +1 510 705 8981 FAX: +1 510 705 8983 http://www.moles.org

* Cyanide and heavy metal leaks from the Summitville gold mine killed all aquatic life along a 27 kilometer stretch of the Alamosa river in the San Juan mountains of southwestern Colorado by the time the mine was shut down in December 1992. The total clean-up costs have exceeded US$150 million.

* Over 11,000 fish were killed along an 80 kilometer stretch of the Lynches River by a similar cyanide spill from the Brewer gold mine in South Carolina in 1992.

* Failure of a leach pad structure at the Gold Quarry mine in Nevada released about 1 million liters of cyanide-laden wastes into two creeks in 1997.

* On May 29, 1998 6 to 7 tons of cyanide-laden tailings spilled into Whitewood Creek in the Back Hills of South Dakota, from the Homestake Mine, resulting in a substantial fish kill.

* On May 29, 1998, six to seven tons of cyanide-laced tailings spilled from the Homestake Mine into Whitewood Creek in the Black Hills of South Dakota, USA resulting in a substantial fish kill. It is likely to be years before the stream fully recovers.

* April 5, 2001

A trucker is facing a drunken-driving charge* after his truck full of cyanide ended up on its side early Thursday in a ditch off U.S. Highway 85 southwest of Lead. The load of 5,235 gallons of 30 percent sodium-cyanide solution was bound for the Wharf Resources gold and silver mine near Lead. State and local officials emphasized that none of the cyanide had leaked.

Sometime Friday, officials from a cyanide-making plant in Nevada will supervise pumping the cyanide from the wrecked truck to another truck. During the transfer, the highway will be closed between Cheyenne Crossing in South Dakota and Four Corners in Wyoming. The area will reopen to traffic after the scene is cleared.

The accident scene is two miles inside the South Dakota border, 22 miles from Lead and 34 miles from Spearfish.

According to South Dakota Highway Patrolman Tony Melaragno, truck driver Menno Derijk, 42, Winnemucca, Nev., said he lost control of the rig about 5 a.m. while trying to avoid a deer on the highway.

The South Dakota Highway Patrol, Lead Fire Department and Wyoming Highway Patrol from Newcastle were dispatched to the scene. Safety teams from Wharf Resources and a state natural-resources engineer from Rapid City also responded.

Melaragno's investigation indicated that Derijk had a blood-alcohol level above the legal limit for commercial drivers, which is .04 percent of alcohol. The limit is stricter than the .10 percent of alcohol for other drivers in South Dakota. Derijk was taken Thursday morning to the Lawrence County Jail. Melaragno said damage estimates to the truck were incomplete because of the snow cover.

Lead Fire Chief Ray Bubb said the 1985 Freightliner's 5-inch-thick, double-walled tank was not punctured and that none of the valves was leaking. Cyanide is considered a hazardous material because of its toxic properties. "He couldn't have picked a better place to wreck," Bubb said. The tanker slid on the road and plopped into a ditch filled with softened snow, which cushioned the truck's fall. Other areas along the highway are rocky with steep ravines, which could have breached the tank.

Bubb said heavy fog initially made it difficult to size up the risks from a safe distance. Coded placards are placed on hazardous-materials trucks to alert officials to what is on board. However, with 30-yard visibility, officers had to get close to read the placard.

Because the truck was not leaking, fears of deadly cyanide gas were alleviated, Bubb said. "While serious in nature, due to the exact circumstances involved here, no one needs to be concerned about this taking any lives or damaging the environment," he said.

State Department of Environment and Natural Resources officials in Pierre said the Rapid City field-office worker was assessing potential dangers for area homes. However, the area is remote and lacks creeks and ponds. No evacuations were announced Thursday.

Bubb, Lead Fire Capt. Chuck Carter and Transwood Trucking Co. representative David Nahnsen monitored the scene from about a quarter-mile away. Traffic was allowed to continue through the area, although orange road-construction signs were placed on both sides of the wreck area to warn drivers.

DENR spokeswoman Kim McIntosh said officials from cyanide-manufacturer Cyanco of Winnemucca were en route by plane to oversee handling of the truck and its chemical load. She said South Dakota does not require special permits for mines or its suppliers to transport cyanide.

Black Hills gold mines have used cyanide to extract gold from crushed rock since the early 1900s. Development of open-pit gold and silver mining has increased area cyanide use since 1982, but McIntosh and Wharf general manager John Begeman said they did not know of another traffic incident involving a cyanide shipment in that time.

Sodium cyanide is a white, crystalline compound. Begeman said the Wharf mine in 1989 switched from cyanide-briquette shipments because premixed solutions are considered safer to handle. [Note: Crandon project would use briquettes]

The more than 5,000 gallons of solution contains about 15,000 pounds of cyanide, which will provide about a week's worth of processing for gold and silver, he said.

You may call reporter Tim Velder at 642-8822, Ext. 17, or send e-mail to him at tim.velder@rapidcityjournal.com.

(*--Thank goodness we have no drunk drivers in Wisconsin!)

cont...