Did Nevada gold mine illegally spew mercury into air?

BOISE — Officials are investigating whether owners of a Nevada gold mine intentionally bypassed pollution-control equipment after tests last year showed much higher mercury emissions than expected.

Prevailing winds carry the mercury to southern Idaho. High amounts of mercury can damage the human nervous system, particularly those in developing fetuses.

Officials with Queenstake Resources, owners of the Jerritt Canyon Mine near Elko, Nev., said that between 1998 and 2005 they voluntarily cut 97 percent of mercury emissions.

However, tests in 2006 that are part of Nevada's new mandatory mercury control program revealed mercury emissions near 1998 levels. The tests found the mine emits about 9,300 pounds of mercury per year.

Last month, the Idaho Conservation League told the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that the test results mean the company might have deliberately routed emissions around equipment designed to limit mercury being released into the atmosphere.

"Companies like Queenstake are putting mercury in our air, and it's coming down in our lakes and streams and contaminating our fish, which are eaten by our families," Justin Hayes, program director for the Idaho Conservation League, told the Idaho Statesman.

The allegation is being investigated by the Nevada Division of Environmental Quality. They have asked the mine owners to retest its ore roasters.

"There are a number of serious questions raised, and we're looking into it," said Dante Pistone, a spokesman for the Nevada enforcement agency.

The company denied the allegations.

"The recent assertions by the Idaho Conservation League regarding bypassing the stacks are without basis and are false," the company said in the statement.

In 2005, Idaho's mercury monitoring program found that mercury levels in the air south of Twin Falls rose up to 70 percent when winds blew from the southwest. The Jerritt Canyon Mine and four other gold mines are located upwind.

And at Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir near the Nevada border, the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality also found higher-than-normal mercury levels. The lake is a favorite area to fish for walleye.

Queenstake officials said they plan to spend $500,000 this year to upgrade pollution-control equipment.

"The health and safety of our employees and our communities is paramount in our operations," the company said in its statement.