Master Petroleum's gold mining plan would take up to 190,000 gallons of water every day from Canyon Creek Photo: Christine Ambrose

The boomtowns are gone, but Canyon Creek still draws people from around the world. The valley north of Junction City, about ten miles west of Weaverville on Highway 299, is beginning to recover from the hydraulic gold mining that stripped its slopes and flats down to bedrock more than a century ago. Today, Canyon Creek is the single most popular gateway to the world-class scenery of the Trinity Alps Wilderness.

Canyon Creek is an equally important place for salmon. Flowing from deep within the Trinity Alps, Canyon Creek is a critical cold-water tributary to the severely impaired Klamath-Trinity Basin, providing essential habitat for spring run chinook salmon and other species that are returning at alarmingly low numbers.

But a Texas mining company is trying to bring the gold rush--and its ecological problems--back to Canyon Creek. Master Petroleum is planning another series of open pit mines in the watershed, aiming to excavate 1.5 million tons of soil on 22 acres of public land just outside the wilderness boundary. Its plan would also take between 120,000 and 190,000 gallons of water a day from the Big East Fork of Canyon Creek for the next 25 years.

The Test Pit

Master Petroleum's larger mining plan is being evaluated in an upcoming Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), but the Forest Service recently gave it the go-ahead to dig a related "test pit" on the banks of Canyon Creek. On September 13, EPIC led a coalition of groups in filing a federal lawsuit to halt this plan, which would create a large pit measuring 100 feet wide, 300 feet long, and 40 feet deep.

The site of the test pit contains many huge old-growth trees, which are now slated for cutting to make way for the excavation. The Forest Service claimed the test pit has no potential to cause environmental impacts, and used a "categorical exemption" to approve it without further review or analysis. EPIC's suit seeks to overturn this exemption, and we are prepared to file an emergency motion if Master Petroleum makes any move to proceed.

Trinity Alps: Worth More than Gold

The Forest Service has stated publicly that it has limited authority to reject Master Petroleum's mining plans, but EPIC believes both the test pit and larger plan are contrary to numerous conservation laws. Canyon Creek is a candidate for protection under the federal Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, and the Forest Service is required to maintain and protect its wild and scenic characteristics until Congress has considered its designation. The proposed open pit mines, some of which would be located within 100 feet
of the creek's main channel, are hardly consistent with
this requirement.

Mining operations could degrade fish habitat and the wild and scenic qualities of Canyon Creek in a number of ways. Besides causing sediment pollution, water quantity issues, and the risk of landslides and major oil spills, open pit mines can also lead to the release of mercury and arsenic as part of their operations, bringing concerns about fish poisoning and other related problems.