On November 7, The Sierra Fund (TSF) led a group of bipartisan legislative staff members on a tour of two iconic legacy mines in Nevada County: Empire Mine State Historic Park (SHP), once the richest hard rock mine in California, and Malakoff Diggins SHP, one of the largest abandoned hydraulic mines in the state. Big thanks […]
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California’s 2017/2018 budget, recently signed by Governor Jerry Brown, includes funding for two projects in the Sierra that will help protect water quality and abate mercury contamination resulting from historic mining activities. TSF CEO Elizabeth “Izzy” Martin commends the investments by the Governor and state departments, saying “this dedicated funding provides real financial leverage to […]
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The Sierra Fund was excited to see that Governor Brown’s proposed budget for the 2016-17 fiscal year includes funding allocated specifically for addressing hazardous materials remaining from historic mining activities at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park. The proposed funding in the Governor’s budget would allow the project to continue to move forward to gather data on cultural resources and environmental assessment, to ensure that proposed solution(s) both protect the park’s fantastic historic legacy, which earned it a place on the National Register of Historic Places, and also address contamination remaining from historic mine operations.
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Today, The Sierra Fund is releasing a new report, the result of more than five years of collaborative science-based data collection, research, and analysis at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park, part of the California State Parks system. The newly released Report outlines an assessment of the various physical and chemical characteristics of this legacy hydraulic mining park, including the pit or “diggins”; tunnels and shafts from the old mining operation; and the discharge from these features into downstream watersheds. The assessment portion of this Report used a variety of methods to learn about the nature of the pit itself as well as the Humbug Creek (into which the “diggins” discharge) including:
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This 216-page report and 8-page executive summary are the result of the first phase of The Sierra Fund’s Malakoff Diggins Project, more than five years of collaborative science-based data collection, research, and analysis at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park (MDSHP), part of the California State Parks system.
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