Earlier this year, the Smith River’s pristine waters faced the threat of a proposed nickel mine in its headwaters. We spoke out in a San Francisco Chronicle op-ed in May and asked, through this forum and others, for members to speak out in opposition.
Your voices were heard and, yesterday, the Oregon Water Resources Department denied the application from the Red Flat Nickel Corp, in part due to the overwhelming substantive comments they received from you, the public and public trust agencies. Well done.
Today’s Del Norte Triplicate article states,
The Oregon Water Resources Department denied the application from Red Flat Nickel Corp. to use water for drilling after determining “that the proposed water use will impair or be detrimental to the public interest,” according to the Final Order from OWRD.
The Oregon Water Resources Department denied the application from Red Flat Nickel Corp. to use water for drilling after determining “that the proposed water use will impair or be detrimental to the public interest,” according to the Final Order from OWRD.
While this is indeed great news, the fight to block strip mining from the headwaters of the Smith River is not over. CalTrout and Smith River Alliance will continue to monitor the situation and encourage Oregon and California congressional representatives to secure a mineral withdrawal for the area.
