Water and Arsenic: which came first?

Newsletter #53 is now available to read in full context. The prior posting cut off four pages. Thanks to a reader in Hawaii for bringing this to our attention. To see, go to index on left side of home page:Newsletters.

Howdy all,
Just signed on today but have been watching this tragedy unfold for many years, I am a former resident of Grass Valley (1978-1989). I will support the mine in any way I can. I think we all know that this is not about arsenic, salmon or the blunt nosed leopard lizard. It’s about control and money (extortion). No amount of good science or even constitutional law will stop these people in government from pursuing their Marxist agenda. So, which came first,water or arsenic? It doesn’t matter to them!

LEGAL DEFENSE/OFFENSE PROCEEDS

A Case Management Conference was held in Superior Court in Sierra County yesterday at 1:30pm. On the telephone were Deputy Attorney General Jeff Reusch and Original Sixteen to One attorney, Klaus Kolb. These conferences are required to keep the court informed of progress between the parties. The next one is scheduled for March 25, 2011 at 8:30am.

This conference has been in my mind since the last conference held in September. First, we discussed the California Department of Conservation lawsuit against the company. In September Deputy Reusch and two staff from Sacramento examined the property in Alleghany, took measurements and were to prepare a map of what they observed as “human disturbance”. When the map is prepared, I am to receive a copy to remove areas that do not fall under the Surface Mining And Reclamation Act (SMARA). We have annually reported that no area is subjected to SMARA regulations.

California’s Water Board lawsuit was the next topic. Deputy Reusch said he would file a “summary adjudication “ motion in January. The plaintiff believes that settlement in not an option. Klaus spoke about his attempts to discuss settlement options and said there is some disagreement about the position of the Central Water Board staff. Since I am also named personally as a defendant in the water lawsuit, the Judge asked me if I had comments. Following are my written remarks. I add some spontaneous thoughts during its reading.

“Your Honor, the last appearance we three made in your courtroom resulted in a discussion in your chambers. Mr. Reusch, Klaus Kolb and I were present because of another lawsuit filed on behalf of the People of California initiated by the Department of Conservation. The meeting helped us work together to either reach a settlement or clarify issues, which in the long run will reduce court time. I believe a similar gathering in your chambers may help the opposing parties reach a settlement in this case.

“I recently phoned the Deputy AG and asked for such a meeting. He declined citing his belief and the water agency belief that their case is a slam-dunk. Even if there were interest, legislation forbids any compromise. A serious problem with this belief is the apparent lack of identifying how and most importantly who is driving this action. By ordering a representative from the water agency to come to your chambers accomplishes several things: it streamlines discovery, it identifies accountability, and it identifies responsibilities. While the plaintiff proclaims damages and its inability to talk about compromises due to the “law” or “legislative statutes”, others disagree.

“This lawsuit threatens the very life of defendant, Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. Many people are adversely affected right now. The very existence of this lawsuit is causing irreparable damage in that this public company cannot attract working capital to operate.

“A prolonged legal battle is not in defendants’ interest. I must add that is not in the plaintiff’s best interest as well. While the lead agency is the Central Valley Regional Water Board, the lawsuit is initiated on behalf of the People of California. My belief is that the Attorney General of California either does not have adequate information from the water agency staff or he has misinterpreted the data in his possession.”

Unfortunately, the judge denied my request. I wanted to make a record of my repeated attempts to reinstate the policy of due process and avoid a costly and unnecessary trial. This was accomplished. The water agency staff has side stepped due process by filing a lawsuit without setting a public administrative hearing. When all is said and aired, the wrong doer will shift to people who work as public servants in the water agency or even in another public agency.

Mr. Reusch corrected one of my statements. He said his agency never really characterized the concept of mandatory legislation that forbids settlement as a “slam-dunk”. If a battle like this one were not so serious and I had time and money on my side, this would be a whole lot of fun. I doubt that any business operating in California has not had experiences with state agents who failed to exercise their fiduciary duty and responsibility to the people of the great state of California. I have had more than my share.

Company federal and state taxes were filed last week. No money was due as our operation was not profitable. My father never complained about paying an income tax because it meant his work was profitable, which is what a businessman works toward. I concur. The Sixteen to One is a great place to work when the mine is profitable.

Taxes are a vital part of the operation of our country. All Californians (well almost all except some bureaucrats in state, county or federal offices) must be well aware that our state is in epic financial trouble. The major reason is poor cash flow and even poorer cost benefit management from our many public servants. Following is one reason Californians face a “quality-of-life” crisis.

When I went to the Alleghany post office to put postage on the tax forms to the federal IRS and the state board of equalization, I asked Bernice, the postmaster, to weight both envelopes. The federal tax forms weighed in at 3.6 ounces. The California tax forms weighed in at 9.3 ounces. How did this happen and what shall the beneficiaries of California’s governments do about the massive intrusion of paper work they injected into our lives?

I’m not against paying taxes to California’s’ public agencies and servants for reasonable expenses; however, our state lost its long time motto of “fair, just and equitable”. Its management is out of touch and unreasonable in administering its duty. For example; our mine is an underground mine, not a surface mine; gold is money and is not taxable; the water seeping through our property in Alleghany is beyond reasonable control; our ore processing does not produce waste. Yet our company is being taxed or fee driven into poverty.

To gain additional perspective on what is making California “not tick”, please read the recent newsletter to shareholders that you will find under NEWSLETTERS. If you have time, read the earlier letters as well. Unreasonable government intervention against this venerable gold mining company is close to prosecution or extortion. To some extortion has become a fact.

Hmm, postage for completed tax paperwork: federal 3.6 ounces and state 9.3 ounces. Please fix this Governor Elect Jerry Brown.

These people are not doing this because of arsenic in the water,it’s about money and revenge.
My check is on it’s way,am talking to others and faxing Mr. Millers letter to others who might be able to help.
Try to talk to some of the other miners in California and Nevada and see if they might be willing to help for a piece of the pie.Talk to Sutter,Atna,New Gold or one of the many miners in Nevada if they will front some money for say 10% of production for ten years.
These lowlifes who just take and take will soon have no one left to take from.
I wish you all the best of luck fighting these thugs,wish I could send more.
Rock

Sunday I heard there is a recent
study on arsenic. May be some
medical people have determined
that the human body requires some
amounts of arsenic to be able to
function,ie body cells depend on
portions of arsenic or the sys-
tem can’t function. This arsenic
blowup could be a fraud like
global warming. I don’t recall
the source of the info. It may
have been Dr.Oz or Dr. Rosenfeld.

Then if Mono Lake is what you
say then the Dead Sea in Israel
might be examined also.

CONGRATULATIONS TO RICK for his leading edge report on our FORUM of the information releases by NASA. Its relevance to the Sixteen to One mine is the unnecessary, questionable and criminal (yes criminal) portrayal of the demands made to our company by the Central Valley Regional Water agents to conduct 1440 tests per year. This has cost us plenty. The damages are in the millions to our shareholders.

I was interested to learn more and did some research this morning. Below are excerpts from various newspapers that edited the original NASA report.

(1) The discovery is about “cracking open the door and finding that what we think are fixed constants of life are not,” said Wolfe-Simon.

(2) The structural similarity between arsenic and phosphorus is so great – the two elements are in the same column of the periodic table – that arsenic can substitute for phosphorus in some biochemical reactions.

(3) Phosphorus is a central component of the energy-carrying molecule in all cells (adenosine triphosphate) and also the phospholipids that form all cell membranes. Arsenic, which is chemically similar to phosphorus, is poisonous for most life on Earth. Arsenic disrupts metabolic pathways because chemically it behaves similarly to phosphate.

(4) The team chose to explore Mono Lake because of its unusual chemistry, especially its high salinity, high alkalinity, and high levels of arsenic. This chemistry is in part a result of MonoLake’s isolation from its sources of fresh water for 50 years

(5) The microbe does grow better on phosphorous, but showing that it can live with arsenic instead raises the possibility that a life form using arsenic could occur naturally, either elsewhere on Earth or on another planet or moon where arsenic is more common.

(6) Arsenic was more common in the early times on Earth, she said, so researchers have speculated that early life forms might have used it.

(7) The organism’s existence suggests life on Earth has an unappreciated flexibility, experts said, and could have evolved from a wider array of building blocks than previously thought – not only here, but elsewhere in the universe.

The next two excerpts demonstrate how easily it is too educate by omission (misinform by omission or lead the sheep). First excerpt is the report carried by several newspapers (the staff writer chooses his or her relevant information for the article). The second is the report as released by NASA.

(A) Mono Lake is a promising place to look for unconventional chemistry. One of several lakes on the western edge of the arid Great Basin near Yosemite National Park, the lake catches runoff from the volcanic Sierra Nevada mountains. A closed basin lake, its concentration of arsenic is about six times higher than the maximum allowable limit for drinking water

(B) The lake receives runoff from the Sierra Nevada mountains, which have relatively high concentrations of arsenic. When the water arrives at Mono Lake, it has nowhere to go because there are no rivers carrying water farther downstream. That means the arsenic, and other elements and compounds, can concentrate to unusually high levels. Arsenic is present in Mono Lake at a concentration 700 times greater than what the EPA considers safe.

Do you see the subtle misleading language?

“The entire ocean life is just loaded with a series of contaminants, most of which have been released by human beings” says Roger Payne, biologist with Ocean Alliance and reported by Arthur Max, Associated Press writer. The study analyzed cells from sperm whales. The report noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury and titanium. Payne makes a fairly tight argument that these contaminants are “the single greatest health threat that has ever faced the human species.”

Further research was urged to the whaling commission. If Mr. Payne’s recommendation is to locate and mitigate the introduction of the mineral pollutants, hooray. If all that is wanted is more research of the sea life, boo. Anyone claiming that these mineral elements or chemicals could be “horrific for both whales and man” must place his energy directly to containment of the pollutant and not more research.

I’m not critical of the report or its important discoveries, yet it brings to mind some current misguided demands of people regarding arsenic in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Of note in the newspaper article is the absence of finding arsenic as a serious contaminate. Normal levels are arsenic have beneficial effects of life. To all interested in the environment: please embrace HORMESIS as an important part of scientific research. Dosage and duration belong in all serious discussions. Grow up and embrace the true scientific approach to complex environmental issues. Precious money continues to be wasted on ideas with little or no benefits. Our venerable company is under attack.

The water permitting blunders committed by carelessness, ignorance or on purpose, (however great the mistakes made), cannot be so great as it would be not to recognize that someone has been in error; however ugly they may be, mistakes become elements in development for future business. The lawsuit filed against Original Sixteen to One Mine for the benefit of the people of California is a mistake. Please write the water agency, your elected representatives or people that will help settle the issue. Blunders were made.

Yes Mike, you are correct.

The part I like best is “we’re here representing the people of California.” Bob Chapman says attorneys in government today were just “C” students in law school. Concerning judges Bob basically said, he never met so many folks in a professional sector before that were so hooked on drugs and alcohol. Does anyone know if state attorneys and judges are required to take drug tests?

It doesn’t take a brain to see what is really going on here with Vendetta II against shareholders: too many State employees sucking off the system with nothing to do while charging struggling companies and State residents for their inflated salaries and supported puffed-up pension plans.

During the Dot.com bubble when State revenues significantly increased they all gave themselves big raises. How about reducing them now, boys? Did you public servants ever hear the State is in big financial trouble? Don’t the State employees read the papers? How about the Central Water Board, don’t they know we don’t run the mill anymore? How could anyone be so stupid and think that someone wouldn’t notice it?

The State needs to be publicly exposed for their tyranny against its own citizens. TrueTV will be contacted next week to see if Jesse Ventura wants to do a story on the conspiracy to bankrupt the owners of the Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc.

I was in Quebec last month talking to some miners who couldn’t believe what the Water Board and State attorney’s office were up to with the mine. The most prevalent comment was, don’t they know where their revenues come from? Quebec is the most friendly area in the world for mining. Agnico Eagle, the premier mining company has, at least, three of its mines producing gold in the province. Agnico is very environmentally minded as they have proven by cleaning up one of their neighbors past producing mine sites adjacent to their Goldex mine by the city of Val D’Or.

Quebec subsidizes its mines and gives tax credits to those investing capital in the companies. All the miners I conversed with laughed out loud when they heard the State had attempted in vain to put the president and our mine manager in jail for an unfortunate mining accident. Some even jerked their arms up abruptly forward and spoke loudly in French.

Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) remarked on outrageous tyrants. He said first they ignore you. Then they laugh at you. Third they then fight you. And fourth, then and only then can you defeat them.(quoted from Martin Arnstrong’s article – The Rising Frustration With The Debt Crisis – November 11, 2010)

Sounds much like how the Water Board has treated Mike over the years, don’t you think?

I wonder how politically correct the state is.
Under prop 65 you must post warnings of hazardus chemicals on bussineses.
Now the state charges fees to use state campgrounds in some areas.
This would make these campground a state run business.
But i have yet to see a prop 65 warning sign at any state campground.
From years ago when i played at uranium prospecting i can tell you that i got higher then normal alpha and beta radiation reading at campgrounds and after talking to people that worked in the field of radioactive materials i was told that thorium from Coleman lantern mantels was the cause.
And thorium oxide is listed on the state prop 65 list.

Dear Readers,

Does a letter to an elected government worker get more attention than a phone call or e-mail? Apparently not. I checked with the author of the following letter to California politicians to learn what response he had. He answered, “none”. I am not convinced that our country in a downward spiral that cannot be turned around. I am convinced that voices and letters and publicity impact governmental behavior. I am convinced that a successful gold mining operation at the Sixteen to mine will ignite our economy. The argument and evidence are overwhelming. Small business needs support or at the least governmental neutrality.

Will you get involved and become a progressive advocate? Write, call and email people in government, radio, television and other media. Introduce them to the concepts of Stephen’s letter. Musicians, actors or public personalities, bankers, lawyers or Indian chiefs, your children or parents may find the gold in California worthwhile to pursue and the plight of an historic venerable gold company unjust.

You know my positions: yes to adding to the GDP; yes to blue collar jobs that create more wealth than the wages it takes to do the work; yes to domestic productivity; and yes to responsible natural resource extraction. You are needed to impact the false negative rhetoric. Share your letters with others on the Internet.

Ms. Patricia A. Wiggins
2nd Senate District
50 D Street
Suite 120A
Santa Rosa, Calif. 95404
June 3, 2010
Dear Mrs. Wiggins,

I wish to report incompetence at the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. I will appreciate it if you and your other Senate members direct my complaints to the body that oversees the agency.

I am a shareholder and past director of the Original Sixteen to One Mine, Inc. with office and basically, an inactive gold mine in Alleghany California. The Central Valley Water Board, along with other complaint to follow has been hostile and disrespectful to our Company’s president, Mr. Michael Miller at various Water Board meetings. The board has made it their mantra to financially destroy our company by burdening it with unwarranted legal expenses when we should be spending our limited funds in conducting our business activities.

I am a past broker dealer/member of the Pacific Stock Exchange that conducted my business on the trading floor in San Francisco and was a member of two oversight committees.

The Board’s position is that the company is not performing some 1440 water tests annually. These water tests were required when the mine was milling ore and discharging treated water into Kanaka Creek. In 1988 the mill was shut down and to this day, has not operated. The Water Boards, after being advised that treated water is no longer being discharged into the creek, continued to require the 1440 tests. Is this inappropriate or what? There are many employees at the Central Water Board and you would believe someone would understand this and significantly reduce the required water testing.

Another on-going complaint by the Central Water Board is that the company is responsible for increasing arsenic content in Kanaka Creek. Nothing could be further from the TRUTH.

I am an environmentalist. I do not use chemicals of any kind at my residence nor do I support their use and especially introducing them into any water source, or any lake, or any ocean. While I was director of the Sixteen to One Mine we had a few water experts work on eliminating any form of the naturally occurring arsenic in the draining water from the mine portal when the rainy seasons were present. This was accomplished by letting the runoff escape over iron shavings. The arsenic was contained in the shavings, thus the water runoff did not carry any form of arsenic in Kanaka Creek. The matter of arsenic escaping from the present rocks in the creek is beyond the control of the company. Arsenic is a naturally occurring substance in nature. Even with some small amounts of arsenic already present in the entire running length of Kanaka Creek there have been no signs of it affecting any aquatic life. Even the fish that are caught and consumed in Kanaka Creek have never posed a problem for that folks that eat them.

If the Water Board employees want to earn their salaries then they should concentrate their efforts on the filthy Sacramento River. It is beyond me why they go up into the mountains where practically no one lives and start throwing their weight around where problems don’t exist. Are they looking for easy prey with limited resources to defend themselves to substantiate their existence? If this if true, following an intense investigation, then they should all be relived of their duties and prosecuted by the Attorney General.

What is most shocking concerning the Water Board’s attitude is that the arsenic content of the water in Kanaka Creek where it first starts running over our property until its final exit shows no increase in the content of arsenic. What does this suggest?

At one Water Board meeting Mr. Jason Burke, a California State licensed mining engineer, made presentations along with the aid of graphs. In the following meeting the Water Board distorted what Mr. Burke had testified to a presented. What’s this all about?

I have been advised that the Water Board salaries are directly related to the Board’s sole income in the form of fines and penalties only. Thus the question presents itself, are fines and penalties being accessed against publicly owned companies at the expense of the shareholders just to pay the Water Board salaries when, in fact, this public agency may be grossly over-staffed, as most are, with nothing to do? Oh I forgot, why don’t they clean up the Sacramento River with all the spare time they have?

My family is being financially damaged by the inappropriate and shameful (criminal) actions of the Central Water Board when, in fact, supposedly representing me as one of California residents. I have been advised by a family ex-prosecutor that I have enough information for an action against the State, either as an individual or as a member of a shareholder’s group.

This is a serious matter of abuse of power that the State entrusted to the Central Water Board. I would appreciate being advised in you are interested in pursuing this matter?

Sincerely,
Stephen C. Wilson
666 Ellis Court
Sebastopol, California 95472

Cc: Patricia A Wiggins, State Senator
Mark Leno, State Senator
Noreen Evens, State Assembly
Jared Huffman, State Assembly
Wesley Chesbro, State Assembly
Michael Miller, President Sixteen to One Mine, Inc.

Answer to question below: No, there is no cease or desist order issued by the water agency. The actions of the water agency in the treatment of the Sixteen to One mine has no parallels with other mines that operated in northern California. The movers behind this lawsuit are the ones who should be given a cease and desist order.

Yes I do agree. Look forward to hearing you win your case, you need to get back to mining sir, our country needs your resource, the labor and economic development your resource will provide.

Superior Court Sierra County
Case Management Hearing
Attending by phone: Klaus Kolb for Original Sixteen to One Mine and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Reusch for the People of the State of California
Attending in person: Michael M. Miller as named defendant

Prepared statement of Michael M. Miller:
Your Honor,

I am disappointed that the California Regional Water Quality Control Board has not responded to the settlement proposal offered by Mr. Kolb and me. It was submitted in good faith with deep consideration for the plaintiffs’ stated duty to act for the public’s benefit. I expected more. My deposition was taken on March 2, 2010. I recently received notice that it is available for review. I will review it within the next ten days in Sacramento. At the deposition the deputy AG pointed out that a response from the water agency might be a slow process. I expected there would be some positive movement towards settlement as the water agency and its lawyers became more familiar with the facts leading up to its claim for damages.

Nevertheless, without plaintiff’s, interest to settle, it becomes prudent and necessary for defendants to begin discovery. I began drafting a request for admissions and interrogations to serve on the water agency. I am confident that when the management of the water agency, including the appointed control board members, realizes their exposure to serious wrongful behavior by the water agency, the judicial situation will change. It remains my hope and desire to reach agreement without burdening this court with a trial.

To this end I pledge to aggressively use the tools of the judicial system to the fullest. These are serious and threatening charges against the Sixteen to One mine and me personally. I do not know how the water agency or the attorney’s office will respond to my discovery. We will find out, however, this month as the process begins. Therefore I ask for time to prepare my discovery and obtain the answers.

I believe that the approach of the defendants to today’s hearing is the right approach. The requests by the water agency have been met with an open willingness to cooperate. . I will continue with the same respect and attitude during discovery. To this point, the prosecuting deputy AG has shown his willingness to cooperate and give us time to gather the requested information. I do not yet know the intent of his client as I attempt to understand the lawfulness of its case.

RESULTS:

Water folks said “no go” to settlement and it plans to seek a summary judgment. Blames the state legislature for passing a law without deviation. Says it has no other options. Case continued to June.

What goes around, comes around.

States shed government jobs as revenue plummets
By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER

WASHINGTON — Pennsylvania, Michigan and Washington shed government jobs last month, a result of shrinking state tax revenue that economists fear could weaken the recovery.

State and local government jobs have traditionally provided a haven during economic downturns. But as states have struggled to close growing budget gaps, job cuts have spread.

That trend emerges from data on a dozen states that have released their employment figures in advance of a federal report Friday on state joblessness for February.

In Michigan, where the unemployment rate is 14.1 percent, the nation’s highest, government jobs at all levels fell by 5,000. They accounted for one-third of the state’s job losses.

Pennsylvania lost 2,200 government jobs. Minnesota lost 1,900 and Massachusetts 1,500.

Washington state shed 900 government jobs in February. And Wisconsin lost 2,100 government jobs, including 1,600 at the local level.