Miners and Farmers Feud Part II

Continued from Part 1

Smelters in northern California caused a lot of problems. And this wasn’t just locally. In the early 20th century, courts from Illinois to Tennessee heard similar cases. One of these cases even made it to the Supreme Court. The issue was money and commercial interests versus the environment and quality of living.

After years of suing local mining companies, in 1907 local farmers were able to force the closure of Keswick’s smelter. Then they went after the biggest polluter of all– the Mammoth Smelter.

The farmers took Mammoth Mining Company to court. They didn’t succeed in closing the smelter, but the judgement did force the mining company to modify their equipment. Unfortunately, it ended up being too little, too late.

Noxious fumes, smoke & poisonous toxins killed vegetation and fish from Red Bluff to Mt. Shasta and east all the way to Chico. Even today, the balding of the hills around what’s now Shasta Lake is still evident. After over 100 years, the vegetation has been extremely slow to make a comeback.