JPIVEY

Sponsoring Member<br>Club Moderator
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 9, 2001
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Workshop opportunity

Dear Off-Roaders,

Below is an offer from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Barstow Desert
Search and Rescue Squad. In light of the recent mine tragedies, they are
taking this opportunity to be proactive about training the user groups on
desert safety and mine awareness.

For those of you that don't know, there were 2 separate incidents that
occurred in April where off-roaders visiting the Calico Mountains came
across a mine and proceeded to enter. The first gentleman fell to his
death and the second was severly injured. Although these were separate
incidents, they occurred in the same mine.

Please pass this message along to any and all off-road groups. We would
also appreciate you posting it on your website. Daryl Schendel is the
squad commander, a local business man, and Director of Desert Safety
Education for Discovery Trails, Inc. He is extremely capable of putting on
a quality program for your monthly meetings

Thank you,

Rose Foster-Beardshear
Volunteer Program Specialist
BLM Barstow Field Office
(760) 252-6011
 

JPIVEY

Sponsoring Member<br>Club Moderator
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 9, 2001
3,180
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Also be aware of this

BLM says arsenic of concern


12:24 AM PDT on Wednesday, April 26, 2006


By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise
the dangers
Arsenic is a poisonous, naturally occurring element, often left over when metals are extracted from ore.
Airborne exposure can irritate the throat and lungs.
Ingesting it can cause nausea, decrease blood-cell production, damage blood vessels, cause irregular heartbeats and death.
Long-term exposure can cause cancer.
High levels of arsenic left over from a hundred years of mining near the northwest corner of San Bernardino County has federal officials worried about the potential health risk to residents and off-roaders.
Soil samples in recent months showed "extremely" high arsenic concentrations near Red Mountain, Johannesburg and Randsburg, desert towns rooted in the area's gold and silver industry.
About 500 people live in the remote communities, and the territory is an increasingly popular off-road recreation spot.
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is considering closing dirt roads where motorcyclists and other off-roaders kick up potentially hazardous dust. People could be exposed by breathing the dust or by skin contact.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked the bureau to contain or clean up the arsenic from processed gold and silver ore, known as mine tailings.
The waste piles are visible throughout the area.
 

TemeculaTim

Member
Feb 2, 2005
145
0
JPIVEY said:
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management is considering closing dirt roads where motorcyclists and other off-roaders kick up potentially hazardous dust. People could be exposed by breathing the dust or by skin contact.

Sounds like another angle to restrict our OHV access. :bang:
 

holeshot

Crazy Russian
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 25, 2000
1,823
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Why has this suddenly become an issue? Sounds like a greenie plot....
 

JPIVEY

Sponsoring Member<br>Club Moderator
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 9, 2001
3,180
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Well it's best to stay away from these areas anyhow, I know too ofter we lose someone ( lots of younger non local people) to a mine, two weeks ago there was two in the same mine and one died, we also been asking the BLM to barricade or at least ribbon off, but there are way to many ( 1000's of them ) so this really isn't a bad idea.

Personally, these are the areas the greenies CAN have
 

mkellycole

Member
Jan 2, 2005
61
0
So which is it? Entering a mine and falling or Arsenic? What is the message other that using your head? If offroaders are offroading instead of hiking stupidly, what is the problem? I have visited Randsburg, CA City for years. A friend of mine while riding at a good clip at dusk, decided to jump a mine hump, ending up in the Johanisburg hospital for a month with a broken ankle. He waws extremely lucky he did fall to his death. Is the fear of this area falling, breathing or both? Use your head when you ride. If the dust we stir up is a problem, close the area. Close the mines if falling is a problem. Riding is not a problem but a responsibility. Be smart.
 

JPIVEY

Sponsoring Member<br>Club Moderator
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Mar 9, 2001
3,180
0
mkellycole, this is a heads up for those who my not be aware of the mines, every year someone is lost to these mines, just like every year someone is lost to heat exhaustion and stroke.

You would think after years of these kind of losses, riders would know better but every year there's one more.


consider it a public service announcement
 

holeshot

Crazy Russian
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 25, 2000
1,823
0
thumbs said:
I believe it's a saftey issue rather than just an excuse to close our riding areas.

There's two issues here - mines and arsenic. :whoa:

It's all very good to warn people of the dangers of mines and save lives in the process.

It's the arsenic issue that has evil undertones. It's been known for decades that there are certain levels of arsenic in the tailings of the old mining operations in these areas.

Here's a more recent BLM article on the arsenic issue

http://www.blm.gov/ca/news/2006/05/nr/CDDNews69_RedMountain_open_house.html

If the land closures that result from this are just in areas of mines, then great. I just hope it doesn't have more "far reaching" consequences.
 

CHR!S

Member
Jun 30, 2006
293
0
my family knows the guy in the first accident, my aunts brother in law. he rode up with his son and walked in, not knowing about a large hole. he fell, and his son (young kid) had to ride back to get help. when they recovered the body, they determined he had died on impact. chilling story, i don't really like mines as much....

heres a link http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_3747900
 
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