Saving the Bay – The Aftermath of the Gold Rush: Mining and Mercury in San Francisco Bay

Saving the Bay – The Aftermath of the Gold Rush: Mining and Mercury in San Francisco Bay

Beginning with the Gold Rush era, the legacy of mining activity in California remains in water systems today. Hydraulic mining practices caused massive amounts of sediment and mercury to enter the vast network of streams and rivers that feed into San Francisco Bay. Mercury continues to pollute the watershed, making many fish toxic to consume.

For more information, go to: http://education.savingthebay.org/the-aftermath-of-the-gold-rush-mining-and-mercury-in-the-bay/
Presented by KQED Public Media.

21 Comments

  1. eqlzr2 on January 6, 2022 at 8:42 am

    I reckon there will always be people who make a show of indignant public outcry over other people’s blood, sweat, tears, hard work, creativity, learning, ingenuity, and achievement. Way easier to do that than actually studying, learning and creating a revolutionary process themselves. Glorifying the former at the expense of the latter may not be a good thing in the long run.

  2. goldassayer93555 on January 6, 2022 at 8:45 am

    So the San Francisco bay has been contaminated with mercury from the cinnabar in the local hills for 100,000 years yet you only point out that the miners used mercury from 1860 to 1874 so the miners must be the cause of all the mercury in San Francisco pay. LOL!
    70% of mercury found in fish in the ocean comes from natural sources of which Volcanic vents are the largest source. Man only contributes 40% of the mercury found in fish.
    Why don’t you mention this in your report?

  3. Gold Shiners on January 6, 2022 at 8:48 am

    They should let me clean up the Mercury I would be more then happy to dredge it all out and It would make me rich!

  4. Deseret Weeks on January 6, 2022 at 8:49 am

    Excellent video!

  5. Tom Heater on January 6, 2022 at 8:54 am

    None of the Soy boys would be able to do what these men did with hard work in those mountains

  6. Gold Blooded 808 on January 6, 2022 at 8:56 am

    Mercury or not, I wouldn’t eat anything that came out of that Bay…

  7. Edo Davidoff on January 6, 2022 at 8:56 am

    is there anyone else that has to watch this for school?

  8. Maia Kubota on January 6, 2022 at 9:01 am

    i like because it tells about what the gold rush is like

  9. Billy W on January 6, 2022 at 9:01 am

    Regardless of the past, the massive increase in population and increased demand for water in the area required man made changes in the waterways. It’s not like the virgin waterways could naturally have kept up with the demands placed upon it. As such don’t blame the past miners for the effects of ever increasing demands.

  10. Gold Shiners on January 6, 2022 at 9:01 am

    looks cool

  11. SkylineToTheSeaAndMe on January 6, 2022 at 9:03 am

    I don’t think people necessarily believe that, but it’s true that Cancer rates are higher as a result in this area, and because of the Silicon Valley electronics industry leaching chemicals. So Mercury, and the chemicals from electronics manufacturing both get into the ground water table/aquafers.

  12. David Straight on January 6, 2022 at 9:11 am

    Miners today clean Mercury out of the rivers, support them

  13. Ryan Cashman on January 6, 2022 at 9:14 am

    ass holes let us dredge the rivers to clean it up you cant have it al your way

  14. bns on January 6, 2022 at 9:16 am

    This is the power of softness , water, it can break solid rock into aparts

  15. antimatter13 on January 6, 2022 at 9:16 am

    If it cant be mined it has to be grown. Be quite.

  16. Allen Knight on January 6, 2022 at 9:17 am

    So your saying mercury gets in the rivers naturally from cinabar in the ground.

  17. kobebeef415 on January 6, 2022 at 9:25 am

    fucking it all up dumb fucks

  18. Dave Wilson on January 6, 2022 at 9:26 am

    Love the sf bay

  19. Shiloh Robinson on January 6, 2022 at 9:30 am

    Who else is here because of school?

  20. Aged10Years on January 6, 2022 at 9:33 am

    Scary…

  21. arrawwn on January 6, 2022 at 9:41 am

    One of the most insidious effects of mercury poisoning is mental deterioration, perhaps exhibited by someone we know.

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