Rogue Riverkeeper sues Southern Oregon gold miner
Feb. 15, 2011, 2:55 p.m. PST
Associated Press

GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) — When the construction industry went belly up and gold prices skyrocketed, Donald Bean decided to try making a living on gold mining claims that have been in his family since the Great Depression.

But a conservation group has filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Medford to stop him, claiming he is ruining habitat needed by threatened coho salmon to recover from habitat damages dating back to the 1850s Gold Rush.

Lesley Adams of Rogue Riverkeeper said Bean's Reelfoot Mining operation on Sucker Creek — a tributary of the East Fork of the Illinois River near the Oregon Caves National Monument outside Cave Junction — has failed to get state and federal permits for pushing gravel into the creek and dirty water from his mining is flowing underground from pits into the creek, violating the Clean Water Act

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