For immediate release    October 16, 2006
Contact: David Kliegman, Okanogan Highlands Alliance: 509-485-3361
Michael Mayer Washington Environmental Council: 206 622-8103 x 201

Groups Appeal First Major Water Pollution Permit for Proposed Buckhorn Gold Mine

Tonasket, WA -- Today, the Okanogan Highlands Alliance and Washington Environmental Council appealed the recent permit issued by the State Department of Ecology for the proposed Buckhorn Gold Mine in north-central Washington. The groups charge that this permit is based on flawed and inadequate information that would result in additional pollution in the rivers and streams around Buckhorn Mountain, likely in a violation of water quality standards.

“The waste discharge permit does not come close to eliminating the new contamination,” says David Kliegman, director of the Okanogan Highlands Alliance, “The permit fails to consider how groundwater or water in nearby streams would be harmed by the addition of treated mine water.” According to the Alliance, the underground shafts proposed to mine the gold on Buckhorn have the potential to pollute groundwater for generations to come.

“We beat back a proposed gold mine here before, and now we are fighting it again” said Michael Mayer of WEC. “It's the 21st century and our state shouldn't permit new mines that are going to pollute our waters when we have enough problems that already we are trying to clean up.”

The state has approved this permit in part through its reliance on the mine's proposed “Adaptive Management Plan” and “Hydrologic Monitoring Plan.” These plans, if properly designed, are supposed to create a system to respond to problems as they arise and to track possible water pollution issues. Unfortunately, instead of containing contingencies to deal with future concerns, these documents only plan to create a plan after a problem has already developed. The Hydrologic Monitoring Plan also fails to provide for enough monitoring wells to ensure usable information to detect problems in a timely fashion.

The original Crown Jewel open-pit mine proposal stalled in 2000 after its Water Quality Certification was rescinded by the Pollution Control Hearings Board. The Board found that water quality was not adequately protected, noting that the proposed approach was “tantamount to entering a busy interstate highway on an exit ramp against the traffic.” While the new proposal uses underground mining instead of open-pit mining, resulting water pollution remains a strong concern.

The appeal was filed with the Environment and Land Use Hearings Board in Olympia, a new hearings board designed to expedite projects within a single forum. This proposed mine will require many more permits that will be consolidated into one legal challenge.

The Okanogan Highlands Alliance is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to educating the public about the environmental threats of large-scale mining. The Washington Environmental Council has worked for nearly 40 years as a leading voice in the state for our land, air and water.