A new study conducted by The Sierra Fund (TSF) and called The Gold Country Recreational Trails and Abandoned Mines Assessment has found that outdoor enthusiasts bear California’s Sierra Nevada Foothills may be in danger of exposure to dangerous minerals and chemicals. The study shows that the aftermath of the Gold Rush era continues to haunt the Sierra Nevada Foothills in the form of lead, arsenic and asbestos. The presence of both lead and arsenic pollutants are most likely due to the mining methods of yesteryear, while asbestos’s presence can be attributed to crushed serpentine – an asbestos containing rock that’s common in the area.
The CEO of the Sierra Fund, Elizabeth Martin, says: “More than 100 years after the end of the Gold Rush era, the environmental, cultural and health impacts of that time have still not been assessed or addressed. Our study documents that these abandoned mines pose a toxic health threat on public lands that are widely used for recreational activities. The time has come for a serious assessment of abandoned mines, and the public needs to be informed about potential exposure to toxic heavy metals and asbestos in areas with abandoned mines.”
The Sierra Fund researchers conducted the study by collecting samples of soil from around the Downieville, Foresthill and Nevada City areas where abandoned mines, waste rock piles and mine tailings are criss-crossed with recreational, public access trails. Toxins were found at incredibly high concentrations – easily high enough to affect human health – in many of the locations tested. The Foresthill ‘Off Highway Vehicle’ riding area, for example, tested positive for asbestos in a little less than half of the samples taken and showed levels of lead some 18 times the amount considered safe by state and federal regulations.
Asbestos occurs naturally in serpentine, a material that’s incredibly abundant in the Sierra Nevada Foothills and so iconic of the area that it even serves as California’s state rock. Serpentine in its natural form is hardly dangerous, but once it has become crushed into a fine, inhale-able powder, breathing it can increase the risk of certain terminal cancers. Mesothelioma, an aggressive and terminal cancer caused by asbestos exposure, can take up to fifty years to present after the initial exposure to asbestos occurs. Those who spend their free time hiking, mountain biking, and ‘offroading’ in the Sierra Nevada Foothills, the TSF claims, are risking exposure to the cancer causing dust.
A spokesman for the Central California division of the Bureau of Land Management said that decontaminating the areas would be virtually impossible due to sheer quantity of pollutants and the fact that they’re so thoroughly blended with the terrain. The Sierra Fund is hoping to restrict public access to some sites and place warning signs where applicable.
