Thanks mostly to the persistence of environmentalists showing more concern than government, Nevada finally has shut down a gold mine whose ore "roaster" had belched tons and tons of mercury fumes for 20 years into northeasterly winds that then dumped minute debris as far north as the Wood River Valley's cherished Silver Creek fishing grounds.
Ordinarily, there might be some consolation in saying, "Better late than never." Instead, the task at hand now is to assess just how much mercury has been spread from the Jerritt Canyon Mine into the air and water of southern Idaho and the extent of lasting damage. Already, the Nature Conservancy and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality have issued warnings about high mercury readings in fish caught at Silver Creek.
However, the Jerritt Canyon Mine is but one of 25 Nevada mines near the Idaho border. Are the other 24 being adequately tested for polluting fallout, and will Nevada shut them down if they, too, are spewing deadly mercury?
How pernicious is this fallout? A typical coal-fired generating plant emits about 125 pounds of mercury per year. Astonishingly, measurable mercury emissions from the Jerritt Canyon Mine roaster totaled some 10,000 pounds per year, according to the Idaho Conservation League.
From this episode, Americans can deduce a more frightening scenario: Imagine the poison raining down on the nation from smokestack industries that have been all but ignored by the politicized Bush-Cheney Environmental Protection Agency and enforcement rules weakened to accommodate cronies of the administration.
