Sierra Club Yolano Grp: Save Farms & Stop Mining!

(Picture Above: Aerial View of the Prime Farmland Set to be Destroyed by the Proposed Mining Project)

The Sierra Club Yolano Group, together with its local partner, Yolo Land and Water Defense, is desperately trying to stop a massive new sand and gravel open-pit mining operation that will forever destroy 300 acres of productive prime farmland just off of Cache Creek a few miles west of Woodland. Almost in the city's backyard, this huge new surface mine will leave behind a contaminated wasteland.

Our Lawsuit Challenging Improper Mining  Project Approvals: Over vigorous objections about the lack of appropriate environmental shortcuts, this project was recently approved by the Yolo County Supervisors when they certified a defective Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and awarded lucrative 30-year sweetheart mining rights to Teichert Mining, part of a billion-dollar mining and construction behemoth.  To stop this ill-advised and destructive project unless necessary protections are put in place, the Sierra Club recently sued Yolo County and Teichert Mining with our partners to rescind certification of the EIR and project approvals. 

Please help us force Teichert Mining to act responsibly so that our children and future Yolo County generations can enjoy unpolluted habitat, productive agricultural land, safe and reliable access to good quality water, and clean breathable air. 

Please consider making a tax-deductible donation of any amount to the Yolano Group's general fund by 1) clicking on the donation link or 2) by sending your check payable to Sierra Club Foundation, c/o Yolano Group, 2736 Brentwood Pl in Davis CA 95618. Your gift supports all of the charitable work of the Yolano Group.

Thank you so much for your help! 

Sincerely,

Alan Pryor, Chair

Sierra Club Yolano Group

Aerial Views of Past Open-Pit Surface Mines in Yolo County

The EIR for the project has completely failed to identify and mitigate for this project's many destructive impacts.

• Methyl Mercury Toxicity - Previous studies in identical mines have proven that methyl mercury, an extremely potent neurotoxin, is produced in high quantities in these impoundment pits. This toxin accumulates to dangerously elevated levels in fish that can be consumed by humans and wildlife causing irreparable health problems and even death if ingested in high quantities. But Teichert Mining only proposes that it will only "study the problem" when it inevitably occurs in the future but offers no guarantees of a solution.
• Loss of Prime Farmland – Previous mining projects have shown that the so-called "reclaimed" farmland has never been brought back to pre-mining productive standards in terms of crop yields expected from prime farmland. At best the "reclaimed" farmland has resulted in smaller yields of lower-quality crops. But in spite of overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Teichert Mining still insists that its farmland reclamation processes yield equivalent yields and proposes no changes from past failures. 
• Unknown Adverse Impacts on Groundwater Levels - At present, many wells near the mining site have already recently gone dry and the impacts of huge water use by the mining operations have not been properly analyzed. Nor has Teichert Mining guaranteed adequate protections to ensure critical groundwater sources are available for local domestic and farming needs. As Yolo County Supervisor Gary Sandy stated, it is “reckless” to approve a thirsty mining project that will divert huge amounts of water for the next 30 years without carefully studying all of the impacts beforehand.
• Unmitigated Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Emissions - The greenhouse gases and priority pollutants emitted by Teichert Mining's massive diesel-fueled earth-moving equipment and the tens of thousands of diesel truck trips needed to transport the finished mined products, much to other counties, are not properly calculated. Yolo County gets the unmitigated mining impacts while other counties reap the benefits of finished products delivered to them. This is simply unacceptable.

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Sierra Club's Yolano Group is fiscally sponsored by the Sierra Club Foundation.

The Sierra Club Foundation’s mission is to promote efforts to educate and empower people to protect and improve the natural and human environment. Your donation to benefit the Yolano Group will go to the Sierra Club Foundation, fiscal sponsor of our charitable environmental programs. The Sierra Club Foundation is a public, charitable organization that is exempt from taxes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. By law, the Sierra Club Foundation retains control and discretion/variance power over all charitable funds received, including how they are disbursed within the purposes for which they were contributed; the Foundation reserves the unilateral right to select those recipients or beneficiaries it believes will best accomplish those purposes.