SW & WestCentral Montana’s water quality experts… Closure of waters with a bank to bank width of less than 10’ to prevent undercutting, erosion of stream banks and damage to riparian vegetation.Closure of waters part of or contained within the any designation of the National Wild and Scenic River system, state scenic waterways, state, county, national or other park systems, national monuments and designated botanical areas or areas of critical environmental concern.Closure of waters to suction dredging that are water quality impaired for sediment, turbidity, toxics or metals.For example, we urged DEQ to amend the permit to include, among other things: This is why we submitted our comment letter, pinpointing several key opportunities for improvement in the general permit. However, even small suction dredge operations can create significant local impacts. Larger operations must apply for an individualized discharge permit that contain more specialized, site-specific mitigation protections. Montana’s general permit for suction dredging is for smaller operations with a nozzle of 4 inches or smaller. Montana’s General Permit for Small Suction Dredges Because it significantly disturbs the bottom of rivers and creeks, and often occurs in low-flow conditions, suction dredging represents an unnatural disturbance that can harm fisheries, aquatic habitat, and degrade local water quality. The size and powder of a dredge can vary, with motors typically ranging from 2 to 50 horsepower and the vacuum nozzle ranging from 2 to 10 inches. The sediment is then spit back into the river in long, murky plumes.
The miner vacuums up the river bottom and runs the sediment through a mechanized sluice to separate out gold flakes. Suction dredge mining takes place directly in river and stream channels using a floating, gas-powered vacuum attached to a sluice box. One of many activities that must obtain MPDES permits are suction dredge operations. This program is called the Montana Pollution Discharge Elimination System, or MPDES permit program for short. Montana administers a federally-delegated permit program that regulates how, where, and when anyone discharges pollutants into our rivers and creeks. of Environmental Quality concerning its proposed renewal of a General Permit for Suction Dredge operations. On March 30th, 2015 we submitted these technical comments to the Montana Dept.
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