Sierra Nevada digger hit with environmental charges
(NEWSER) - California authorities aren't buying landowner Joseph Hardesty's excuse that he is merely running a gravel business from a Gold Rush-era mine in a gold-rich part of the state. Authorities in El Dorado County say he is running one of the most blatantly illegal gold-mining operations ever seen in the state, and have slapped him with 14 criminal charges, including operating without permits and polluting a creek, AP reports. Inspectors say they found a "full-blown surface-mining operation" on his land, complete with shaker tables to separate gold from gravel. More»
