Comment submitted by K. Woods

Dear EPA, My family and I live 8/10s of a mile downstream from the source point of the acid mine drainage pouring from the New Idria Mercury Mine. We moved to our property 30 years ago, knowing the watershed was not clean and with intentions of remediating the problems with our backhoe ... but we had no idea how complicated and massive the pollution really was. Since 1981, we have begged and petitioned every state and federal agency in the world to address this statewide problem. During these three decades all of us have lost most of our teeth, although we are now only in our early 50s. Mercury attacks bones as well as the neurological system, and my brother, sister and I have displayed many of the symptoms of this bio-accumulative poisoning. We applaud the U.S. EPA for finally taking a much more scrutinized study of this acid mine drainage; specifically, for admitting that it does indeed go into the San Francisco Bay during flood season and for considering placing this site back on the Superfund List. We have also studied the hydrology of this mess for decades now, and we believe most of the AMD can be curtailed by preventing the stream that pours out of the reservoir above the ghost town from splitting, with half of it going into the honeycombed mining tunnels of the mountain. When it comes out again at infamous Portal Ten, it is an orange ooze. But the other half of the stream, which winds around the mountain is clean. Unfortunately, it meets back up with the orange stream at the “Mix Point,” at the entrance of town, and then creates organic methylmercury. That mixture is what flows through our property, toward the Delta. On the way, it goes through many ranches and farms, affecting cattle and crops. We understand this is a Herculean undertaking, but any remediation at all would be welcome by this family, and all residents of the San Francisco Bay Area. Respectfully, Kate Woods (and Kemp Woods and Melissa Woods) 20620 New Idria Road Paicines, CA 950