![]() Among them: dredges must display an identification number dredging is not permitted in rivers that are water-quality limited for sedimentation, turbidity or toxics an annual monitoring log is required from each dredging operation and discharges are prohibited from highbank and dredge operations. Many of the provisions sought by environmental advocates have been placed in the new permit. The old 700PM permit was extremely lax, but DEQ revised it to make it more protective to the environment and more enforceable. DEQ regulates this small-scale mining through a general permit called the 700PM permit - meaning that an individual miner seeking a permit has been required to undertake only a very minimal site-specific analysis. The permit covers recreational river mining that uses suction dredges having a 4-inch or smaller nozzle. It requires a permit under the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) because of the turbidity it causes. Recreational mining for precious minerals in rivers is regulated under the federal Clean Water Act. of Environmental Quality has regulated the pollution from suction-dredging. The $64.3 million spent in the area for restoration between 20 generated approximately $113-$141 million in economic output, the majority of which stayed in the local communities, supporting local gravel companies, native plant nurseries and similar businesses. For example, in a 2012 report, Ecotrust calculated that in the five-country area of southwestern Oregon there were 2,350 restoration projects between 20, creating and supporting about 1,020 jobs in local communities in desperate need of of job opportunities. Restrictions on rampant, destructive suction-dredging are essential to protect Oregon’s huge investment in stream and salmon habitat restoration. This is a major problem in salmon-rich south coast rivers like the Rogue and the Chetco. A principal issue is turbidity caused by the dredge activity it clogs fish gills and coats gravel beds important for salmon feeding and spawning. The problem with suction dredges is the way they churn up the riverbed. Now a lot of gold mining is “recreational,” and is done not by hand, but with suction dredges. Gold Beach got its name from the flecks of gold in the black sands of the area. One of the areas well known for gold mining is the southwest Oregon coast. in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. It’s the modernized version of panning by hand for gold, which was quite common in some areas of the U.S. Oregon has always allowed suction dredge gold mining on its rivers. ![]()
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