I received a letter from Rise Gold dated Feb. 11 stating, “We are reaching out to you to provide further information” on the proposed reopening of the Idaho-Maryland mine.
Awesome. I’d love more information about the mine, since I live off East Bennett Road and directly on top of mine. I’ve been reading the 1,000-page draft environmental impact report, and it’s tough slogging. So many significant impacts!
Anyway, here’s some tidbits from the Rise letter:
“The county has determined that no domestic water wells will be drained by mine dewatering.” That’s funny since previous impact reports to reopen the mine stated several nearby wells would likely experience complete dewatering.
Then there’s this gem: The current report says Rise Gold plans to explode 1,860 pounds of ammonia nitrate seven days a week under my home. But not to worry. Their letter says that the blasting will be “unnoticeable and undetectable.” I’m thinking not.
And the finale, their real estate consult concludes there would be “no negative impact on home prices.” In fact, employment from the mine could drive nearby home prices higher! I guess living next to a highly industrial 24/7 rock crushing plant is desirable. Who knew?
Jim Otto
Grass Valley
This opinion piece was originally published in The Union.