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Nevada Irrigation District seeks federal funds on landmark mercury removal project

Posted by: Maven on February 19, 2010 at 6:30 am

From YubaNet.com:

“GRASS VALLEY, Calif. Feb. 18, 2010 – Approximately 60 miles northeast of Sacramento on the western slope of the northern Sierra Nevada foothills lies Combie Reservoir. Part of Nevada Irrigation District’s lower storage division, Combie sits behind Van Giesen Dam, built in 1928. Over 80 years later, the dam has not only restricted the waters of the Bear River, it has also impounded hundreds of thousands of tons of mercury-laden sediment behind its concrete edifice.

Today, NID is in the planning stages of an innovative, one-of-a-kind project to extract 100 pounds of potentially lethal mercury from roughly 200,000 tons of sediment sitting behind Van Giesen Dam in Combie Reservoir. If the project successfully demonstrates that mercury can be removed from sediments — without contributing to unacceptable levels of mercury downstream — it could become a model for other reservoir maintenance programs as a best management practice (BMP).

The total cost of the project is estimated to be around $9 million. While NID, along with the State of California (through the Sierra Nevada Conservancy), private industry and others will contribute to the overall cost, the district hopes to receive additional funds from the federal government. … “

Read more from YubaNet.com by clicking here.

February 19, 2010 · Filed Under Lake Tahoe, the Sierras & foothills

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