Californian Must Pay $150,000 for Gold Mining Without Permit

A California man can be held liable for recreational gold mining that polluted an Idaho River, according to the Ninth Circuit which held Monday that his mining waste can be considered a pollutant under the Clean Water Act.

The act prohibits discharging any pollutant into waters of the US unless the Environmental Protection Agency or Army Corps of Engineers has authorized a permit—which Shannon Poe didn’t have, a three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit said.

Poe now faces a $150,000 civil penalty.

Idaho Conservation League claimed in a 2018 lawsuit that Poe mined with ...