Aanestad hopes to help dredge miners

29-12-2009

California Dredgers may get a refund!!!!

SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Sam Aanestad stuck up for miners when legislation threatened their hobby. He opposed the bill this year that aimed to end suction dredge mining for gold in California. The measure passed, however, and that type of mining was banned. Now, Aanestad wants to offer miners a bit of consolation. The Republican senator from Grass Valley has introduced a bill to refund the money miners spent on dredging permits this year. It's a matter of being fair to the miners, Aanestad was quoted as saying in a news release. "They paid for a full year of mining activities. They didn't get it. They deserve a full refund." This year, the state collected permit fees from suction dredge miners amounting to about $250,000, according to Aanestad's news release. California miners paid $47.50 for a one-year permit, while out-of-state miners paid $186.75. Aanestad's measure, Senate Bill 233, will be heard in committee when the Legislature convenes in January. The bill is sponsored by the New 49ers Prospecting Association, an organization for miners. The north state senator got involved in the mining issue after Sen. Patricia Wiggins, D-Santa Rosa, introduced Senate Bill 670 to ban suction dredge mining. He led the opposition to her bill, his news release said. In suction dredge mining, an engine and a hose are used to suck up soil from river bottoms. Wiggins' bill cited a state study indicating the practice worsened mercury contamination in rivers and Streams.

However, Bill Bird, Aanestad's press secretary, said there was an unresolved controversy over the significance of environmental damage caused by suction dredge mining.

Wiggins' bill was supported by the Sierra Club, Friends of the River, the Karuk Tribe and other groups. Opponents included the miners' association, Siskiyou County and the Regional Council of Rural Counties.

A good deal of this kind of mining has been done on the Klamath River.

In the Assembly, Wiggins' bill passed by a vote of 63-11. In the Senate, it passed, 28-7. All three north-state legislators, Aanestad, Assemblyman Dan Logue, R-Linda, and Assemblyman Jim Nielsen, R-Gerber, voted against the measure.

Bird said Aanestad was concerned not only about the effect of Wiggins' bill on miners but also about its impact on local economies around the north state.

According to Bird, about 4,000 miners have been accustomed to renting equipment, buying food and booking motel rooms in communities near where they practice their hobby.

The ban on suction dredge mining means an estimated $60 million annually won't be spent in these communities, Bird said.