Concerns for world’s rarest fish in Nye County amid mining proposal

LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – The number of the world’s rarest fish, found in a deep hole in Nye County, is up but environmentalists are sounding the alarm about a possible threat to their water.

“Some places are too special for mining and Ash Meadows is one of them,” contended Patrick Donnelly, Director of the Center for Biological Diversity.

Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge is a true oasis in the Southern Nevada Desert. Its crystal pools created by natural springs are not only beautiful but ecologically important, especially for several species of pupfish.

“It is home to dozens of unique species that live nowhere else on earth,” Donnelly revealed. Inside of Ash Meadows, you will find an outpost of Death Valley National Park: Devil’s Hole. Deep down the hole lives the rarest fish on the planet, the critically endangered Devil’s Hole Pupfish.

Last month, scientists in scuba gear dove the hole and counted 191 fish, a 25-year high. In 2013, there were just 35 fish and the species came dangerously close to extinction.

“These species are entirely dependent on groundwater, and mining on the border of Ash Meadows really threatens that groundwater and thus threatens those species,” Donnelly argued. Donnelly is leading the fight against a new mining proposal posting this opposition petition on social media:

Last chance to act on the kitty litter mine. Tell BLM no, today: http://bit.ly/ashmeadowszeolite

“The BLM is permitting a mining exploration project for the mineral zeolite which is used for a variety of applications including as kitty litter, and the exploration project would drill 43 holes in the ground 200 feet deep. And it is right across the street from Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge,” Donnelly explained.

FOX5 asked St. Cloud Mining about these concerns. They shared these points:

1. The St. Cloud Ash Meadows mine has been permitted and operational since 1981.

2. It is not located within the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

3. The target resource is zeolite, an altered volcanic ash used in environmental remediation applications. (See the St. Cloud website for more info on St. Cloud and zeolite uses: www.stcloudmining.com )

4. St. Cloud is filing for a modification to an existing permit to conduct an exploration drilling program on property immediately adjacent to its existing operation.

5. Past drilling at the proposed depth has never intercepted the water table.

Nevada is the only state in the country that mines for lithium and last summer a Canadian company proposed lithium exploration near Ash Meadows.

“They were going to be drilling holes within like 1,000 feet of a spring that has an endangered fish in it and that really sparked a lot of outrage,” Donnelly recounted. After a lawsuit against the BLM for approving the project, it was withdrawn.

“Ash Meadows is surrounded by mining claims on every side, and so whether we have lithium on the northside, whether we have kitty litter on the southside, these projects really do pose an existential threat to the biodiversity that makes Ash Meadows so special,” Donnelly asserted.

It will be up to the Bureau of Land Management to approve the permit request. This is their assessment and where you can submit a public comment: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2018975/510

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