Calif. miner knocked for dredge mining on South Fork of Clearwater River

A Concord, Calif., man was fined $150,000 this week for violating the Clean Water Act on the South Fork of the Clearwater River when he suction dredge-mined 42 days in 2014 and 2015 without securing a permit.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco levied the fine against Shannon Poe, who polluted the South Fork of the Clearwater River and refused to secure a permit as required under the Clean Water Act. The fine represents one of the largest Clean Water Act penalties against an individual in Idaho. The ruling also prohibits Poe from mining on the South Fork in the future unless he secures and complies with a Clean Water Act permit.

The Idaho Conservation League filed the lawsuit against Poe in August 2018 for illegal suction dredge mining on the South Fork of the Clearwater River, which provides critical habitat for salmon, steelhead, bull trout and other sensitive species.

Suction dredge mining is a method of mining gold from river beds using an underwater hose to suck up riverbed materials and then sort them for gold. After sorting, most riverbed materials are discarded from the floating dredge into the river, creating a turbid sediment plume that flows downstream. Suction dredge mining leaves behind dredge holes and waste rock piles in the riverbed.

Suction dredge miners are required to obtain Clean Water Act permits, known as a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, to limit the harm they cause Idaho’s rivers. Poe refused to obtain the permit from the Environmental Protection Agency when he mined in the South Fork of the Clearwater in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

For years, Poe and his organization, the American Mining Rights Association, have encouraged miners to ignore federal rules on the South Fork of the Clearwater River and across Idaho.

Judge Patricco found that “it is clear that suction dredge mining (even small-scale, recreational suction dredge mining) disturbs a riverbed’s substrate and discharges sediment into the water column, causing aesthetic and environmental harm. This is especially the case in a sensitive environment like the (South Fork Clearwater River) — a critical habitat for (environmentally) listed species and an already-impaired river due to the failure to meet state water quality standards for sediment and temperature.”

Patricco determined that Poe’s violations warranted a stiff penalty, stating: “There is no dispute that Mr. Poe violated this prohibition time and again when he suction dredge mined on the (South Fork Clearwater River) without a ... permit. These violations are unquestionably serious. They not only violated the law, but also caused environmental harm by lowering water quality.”

Jonathan Oppenheimer, external relations director at the Idaho Conservation League, said Patricco’s decision “should be a warning to anyone who flouts the rules designed to protect clean water. Whether you’re a boater, angler, logger or miner you have to follow the rules; it’s our responsibility as citizens. This ruling, which represents one of the largest Clean Water Act fines ever levied in Idaho against an individual should send a clear message to miners or anyone who refuses to follow the rules.”

Wednesday’s decision follows a ruling in the same case issued in June 2021 that Poe violated the Clean Water Act when he engaged in unpermitted suction dredge mining on 42 separate days. Other similar cases against dredge miners in Idaho resulted in penalties of $3,600, $6,600 and $24,000. The penalty ordered by Judge Patricco was elevated because of Poe’s repeated violations, disregard for warnings and encouraging others to violate the law.

The Idaho Conservation League monitors suction dredge mining and has placed several miners on notice to encourage Clean Water Act compliance and to protect Idaho’s rivers and streams from pollution. After the state assumed primacy for the Clean Water Act, dredge miners are now required to obtain an Idaho Pollution Discharge Elimination System Permit from the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, along with other permits to comply with state and federal rules designed to protect sensitive species, water quality and other public resources.