California's Toxic Trails

California's mining legacy leaves arsenic, lead, and asbestos in thousands of trails

State parks in California have been threatening to close for lack of funds for years now, which is a huge bummer for your future weekends—but maybe it's not so bad for your health. Recent soil tests on trails near mine shafts in the Sierra foothills reveal dangerously high levels of arsenic, asbestos, and lead left over from the Gold Rush; when kicked up as dust particles, it's possible for hikers, bikers, and other trail users to absorb these nasty carcinogens.

Environmental advocacy group the Sierra Fund limited their research to 11 trails near Foresthill, Downieville, and Nevada City, but California's 47,000 abandoned mine shafts portend similar results elsewhere. Soil samples in one test area showed lead levels 18 times higher than state and federals standards, and 40 percent of soil samples showed asbestos contamination.

In 2008, the federal government tasked the Bureau of Land Management with cleaning trails or erecting barriers, but that's easier said than done. California got $20 million from Obama's stimulus package earmarked specifically for abandoned mine cleanup, but the combination of steam cleaning and cementing over toxic sites means actually finishing the job could be much more expensive.

In the meantime, I guess you could always hike in a hazmat suit. They even make them with Gore-Tex now. How convenient.

—Ted Alvarez

via SF Gate

image credit: alphatangobravo

PRINT THIS PAGE EMAIL THIS PAGE RSS FEED

Digg Delicious Yahoo Facebook Reddit StumbleUpon Google Newsvine Facebook Twitter

READERS COMMENTS

http://www.yourjerseyhome.com

Mar 20, 2013

cheap china nfl jerseys online sale http://www.yourjerseyhome.com Nike San Francisco 49ers jerseys,Nike Baltimore Ravens Jerseys all kinds sports jerseys
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/Nike-NFL-Jerseys-c124.html Nike NFL Jerseys http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/MLB-Jerseys-c94.html cool base mlb jerseys
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/NBA-Jerseys-c77.html Revolution 30 nba jerseys
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/NFL-T-Shirt-c126.html wholesale NFL T-Shirt,
http://www.jerseycaptain.com http://www.jersey2shop.com

http://www.3cjerseys.com

Feb 20, 2013

http://www.3cjerseys.com is an online store . Here , you can buy all kinds of cheap nfl jerseys with wholesale price, just like NFL Jerseys,Football Jerseys, Basketball Jerseys,NHL Jerseys,We also provide Customized NFL jerseys. All the products in our website are from china with wholesale price , so you can buy cheap products wiht high quality ! Now ,you can choose different payment in our website ,just as paypal , western union and VISA credit card .more information please visit http://www.3cjerseys.com
http://www.21elitenfljerseys.com

yourjerseyhome

Oct 27, 2012

Welcome to our jerseys shop http://www.yourjerseyhome.com we would off you the best jerseys and best servise. We are professional jerseys manufacturer from china,wholesal.cheap nike nfl jerseys, mlb jerseys, nhl jerseys,nba jerseys and shoes. we offer the latest 2012 nike jersey, with the best quality and the cheapest price,
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/Nike-NFL-Jerseys-c124.html Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys, the perfect jersey to let you enjoy the sport, to make you crazy for sports.
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/MLB-Jerseys-c94.html cool base mlb jerseys and throwback mlb jerseys.
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/NBA-Jerseys-c77.html Revolution 30 swing nba jerseys
http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/NFL-T-Shirt-c126.html wholesale NFL T-Shirt,
All Our Jerseys Are Sewn On and Directly From Chinese Jerseys Factory, hope to do longtime business with you.

NIKE NFL jerseys

Sep 29, 2012

[/pre]Cheap NFL,NBA,MLB,NHL
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/]cheap jerseys [/url]
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/]2012 nike nfl Jerseys[/url]
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/]nba jersey and shorts[/url]
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/]oklahoma city thunder jersey [/url]
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/NFL-Jerseys-c68/]official jeremy lin new york knicks jersey [/url]
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/NBA-Jerseys-c77/]NFL Jerseys Wholesale [/url]
NHL Jerseys China
[url=http://www.jersey2shop.com/MLB-Jerseys-c94/]blake griffin jersey blue [/url]NFL jerseys For Sale online.All Our Jerseys Are Sewn On and Directly From Chinese Jerseys Factory
[/pre]
[pre]We Are Professional China jerseys Wholesaler
[url=http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/]Wholesale cheap jerseys[/url]Cheap mlb jerseys
[url= http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/]Nike NFL Jerseys [/url]
[url= http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/ [/url]Cheap China Wholesael[/url]
[url= http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/]Wholesale jerseys From China[/url]
[url=http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/]2012 nike nfl Jerseys[/url]Free Shipping,Cheap Price,7 Days Deliver
[/pre]
[/pre]
We are professional jerseys manufacturer from china,wholesal
sports [url= http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/]Jerseys From China[/url]
[url=http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/NFL-Jerseys-c68]NFL jerseys China[/url]
[url=http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/NHL-Jerseys-c96/]NHL Jerseys China[/url]
[url=http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/NBA-Jerseys-c77/]NBA Jerseys China[/url]
[url=http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/MLB-Jerseys-c94/]MLB Jerseys China[/url]
[url= http://www.cheapjersey2store.com/]China Jerseys[/url],Free Shipping
[/pre]
[/pre]
We are professional jerseys manufacturer from china,wholesal
sports [url= http://www.jerseycaptain.com/]cheap jerseys [/url]
[url= http://www.jerseycaptain.com/]2012 nike nfl Jerseys[/url]
[url=http://www.jerseycaptain.com/NFL-Jerseys-c68] Revolution 30 nba jerseys [/url]
[url=http://www.jerseycaptain.com/NHL-Jerseys-c96/]jersey of nba chicago bulls direk rose [/url]
[url=http://www.jerseycaptain.com/NBA-Jerseys-c77/]nfl jerseys [/url]
[url=http://www.jerseycaptain.com/MLB-Jerseys-c94/]green bay packers jerseys wholesale [/url]
[url= http://www.jerseycaptain.com/]NFL Jerseys Wholesale],Free Shipping
[/pre]

[url=http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/]elite nike nfl jerseys sale[/url],
[url=http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/]2012 game nike nfl jerseys cheap[/url],
[url=http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/Nike-NFL-Jerseys-c124.html]good supplier soccer jerseys[/url],
[url=http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/MLB-Jerseys-c94.html]cool base mlb jerseys[/url],
[url=http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/NBA-Jerseys-c77.html]Revolution 30 nba jerseys[/url],
[url=http://www.yourjerseyhome.com/NHL-Jerseys-c96.html]2012 all star mlb jersey[/url],
We are professional jerseys manufacturer from china,wholesal.cheap nike nfl jerseys, mlb jerseys, nhl jerseys,nba jerseys and shoes. www.yourjerseyhome.com

Derek Clark

Jul 08, 2010

I have just moved back to Foresthill. If the Sierra Fund wants to do further studies or post warnings fine. Closing trails is not the answer. I can make my own decision on what is good for my health or not I don't need the nanny state telling me. The areas in Foresthill in the study are primarily OHV and mountain biking areas. It sounds like more of a land grab to push these groups off the multi use trails.

Allie McLachlan

Jun 24, 2010

I agree with Eric. I think this BS is actually a scare tactic put up by those who would rather see our state parks close. It is absurd...
I for once, won't give up hiking, mountain biking or running... Guess what, we are all dying someday and most probably because of some form of cancer anyway. Just go enjoy life outside, while you can.

Eric Nelson

Jun 24, 2010

Well, in terms of the heavy metals arsenic and lead, all soil has some. In fact, most clays, even non-contaminated ones, have 10 times the EPA regulated amount. Adults and older children have little trouble passing it through their system. I do not think it is so evident that the heavy metals and asbestos in the soils in California is due to mining. Many parts of the world have naturally ocurring heavy metals and other harmful minerals like cinnabar, asbestos or uranonite near the surface. Is this any worse than living in an urban setting with brake dust, smog and other toxins in the air. Please don't make me feel like I should not go outisde and enjoy the trails.