Mining company's drilling effort dealt blow

The Statesman Journal
By Zac Urness
October 1, 2014

Oregon Rep. Peter DeFazio issued a joint statement with Rep. Jared Huffman (D-CA) on the Red Flat permit denial.

"This is great news for the Smith River and all who depend on it. The Smith is one of the most pristine and ecologically important rivers in our districts ... We cannot expose the North Fork Smith River watershed to the public health and environmental risks of exploratory drilling or mining. The decision by Oregon Water Resources Department was a critical first step—and we will continue to do what we can to stop this risky project."

The Oregon Water Resources Department dealt a setback Monday to a mining company's plans for exploratory drilling near the headwaters of one of the country's most pristine river systems.

Red Flat Nickel Corporation submitted an application June 5 for a license to withdraw surface water for drilling in the watershed of the North Fork Smith River, a stream that crosses from southwest Oregon into California and joins a main stem best known for its emerald color as it rolls through Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park.

The application was denied following an investigation by OWRD, which determined the water usage would "impair and be detrimental to public interest," said senior policy coordinator Racquel Rancier.

Red Flat, which didn't return calls or emails seeking comment, has sought to conduct exploratory drilling to determine the feasibility of setting up a nickel mine at its 3,000-acre Cleopatra claim site just north of the Oregon and California border. The company is also seeking cobalt, chromium and scandium.

The proposed mine has become a white-hot issue in southwest Oregon and northern California, especially in Crescent City, Calif., which gets its drinking water from the Smith River and relies on the river for its recreation-based economy.

"People come from around the world to vacation in this beautiful country, and it makes no sense to locate a strip mine near a river that means so much to so many," said Grant Werschkull, executive director of the Smith River Alliance in Crescent City. "It's a major concern in every possible way: a threat to drinking water, salmon runs and the recreation-based travel and tourism industry that is the single largest part of our economy."

Two reasons were given by OWRD for denying the application. The first was the lack of overall water in the stream Red Flat proposed to draw from, an unnamed tributary of Taylor Creek, which flows into Baldface Creek and the North Fork Smith.

"When we went to the location where they would take the water, there was no actual water in the stream or creek," Rancier said. "We can't issue a license for water use if there is no water."

The second reason was that the use could impact water quality for "sensitive, threatened and endangered species of fish," Rancier said, including coho salmon.

Rancier said OWRD received more than 3,000 comments on the project, the vast majority in opposition.

Red Flat can petition the department to reconsider its decision or ask for a judicial review of the findings. The company could also bring in its own water, either by helicopter or other means, to conduct the exploratory drilling.

The company has maintained the mine, if it went forward, would not damage the river or surrounding environment.

"This is a surface mining project ... you could walk up and pick it up with your hand," Obie Strickler, a representative of Red Nickle, told the Crescent City Triplicate. "Impacts from discharge are relatively nonexistent ... the exploratory drilling will have no impact to the Smith River watershed or the citizens of Del?Norte County."

Werschkull said he was happy with the setback, but didn't think it would be the project's end.

"I believe this project is a long way from being dead," he said.