A DRILL PICKLE

by Jack Lunch
in News
— 1 Mar, 2009

Wolf hunts cougars … in Bridgeport

By Wolf

“I haven’t seen this many people in this room since the last dance!” said Mono County District 4 Supervisor Bill Reid on Wednesday night.
Reid, along with a packed house of concerned citizens from Mono and Inyo Counties, showed up at Memorial Hall in Bridgeport for a public meeting to discuss an exploratory drilling proposal by Cougar Gold.
Cougar proposes the exploratory operation take place in the Bodie Hills Wilderness Study Area (WSA), specifically the Paramount Mine area.
The mining company has presented to the BLM (Bureau of Land Management) a proposal that seeks permission to drill 37 holes in 21 locations in the WSA using drill mounted 1.5 ton trucks and specially rigged helicopters. Cougar Gold would remove core samples ranging in depth from 500-1,300 feet deep. The drilling would go on 24 hours a day, seven days a week from mid-July through October.
The emphasis of the meeting was “exploratory.” Based on the Paramount Mine’s history of mining and the fact that gold can be found on the surface, Cougar Gold claims it needs to take a closer look at the region.
Congressman Buck McKeon (R-25th District) was in Washington and not present at the meeting. However, the Congressman did have a statement prepared claiming that the citizens of Mono County should consider this an opportunity for job creation.
Cougar Gold Vice President Tom Randall stated to the public, “The exploratory drilling operation will employ about 35 people. Roughly 15 will be hired locally for the project.” BLM representative Cheryl Seath estimated the odds of this exploratory drilling turning into a full blown mine are about 1 in 4,000.
While the BLM outlined its plans for implementing Cougar Gold’s proposal, a frustrated bystander shouted, “We can’t hear anything you’re saying! Get a P.A. system.” The BLM’s Joe Pollini responded, “Well, we didn’t anticipate this many people!”
The response to the proposition was greeted with mixed reaction. “I say lets do it!” yelled a man from the back row, “If it’s going to create jobs then let’s do it.” But not everyone shared this enthusiasm. People voiced their concern about the trucks and helicopters driving by and flying over their homes.
Another concern is the amount of water usage that the site will demand. Vice President for Cougar Gold, Tom Randall, claimed the site will use an estimated 3,500 gallons of water per day.
Many are also concerned about the environmental impact of the Bodie Hills region.
The proposed drill sites are a thriving sage grouse and pronghorn antelope area. Friends of the Inyo Director Paul McFarland told The Sheet, “It’s good for the public to get involved, we just want to make sure that all the issues that may arise are fully studied and considered. This has the potential to have a lot of environmental impact on that area.”
One major concern is that this entire project could just be a dead end. Local Bridgeport business owner Al Ammet was concerned that “there would be too many regulations to do what they want, eventually the cost could become out of control.” What Ammet was referring to was the Galactic Mining Company prospected the area almost 20 years ago.
Reportedly, Galactic, a Canadian mining company, was also interested in exploring the Bodie Hills region. Galactic abandoned the project after considerable restrictions that caused them to spend too much money for too little return.
At one point, a concerned citizen raised the question on how much this entire project would cost the taxpaxer as well as Cougar Gold.
Since they hadn’t yet crunched the numbers this threw the BLM and Cougar for a loop. The result was a mild uproar from the audience. By complete coincidence I happen to be seated right next to the Director of Prospect for Cougar Gold, who responded to the uproar by leaning over to the CEO Mac Deguirre andwhispering, “Jesus Christ.”
Local businessman Tim Hansen said, “Bridgeport needs this opportunity. I just hope the people don’t run these guys out of town like they did the last miners.”
Even if Cougar Gold finds ore in the region there are no concrete assurances that they will be able to precede with the next step of operations. However Cougar does have the right under FLPMA (Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1973) “grandfathered” uses to explore the region under California state law.
BLM field manager Paul Bannister claimed, “All of your opinions matter, we need feedback for [issues] we may have overlooked.” The BLM is taking written comments and feedback until March 13.