High tech weather sensors are now installed throughout the area scorched by the Carlton Complex wildfire. The hope is that they will warn residents of potential flash floods. The funding for the technology is coming from an unusual source.
In August, flash flooding swept through north central Washington. The area had earlier been burned by the Carlton Complex fire. The flooding took residents by surprise.
Now, new rain gauges that communicate via satellite will warn of future flash flooding in the area.
Those rain gauges were paid for by the Buckhorn Gold Mine. Mine operators are paying for environmental projects as a part of a settlement with the Department of Ecology.
Gina Myers is with Buckhorn Gold Mine. She said mine operators said the company "did not necessarily agree with the allegations within the penalty, and so we appealed that penalty. ... The results of the settlement discussions were to fund some supplemental environmental projects that would benefit environmental conditions in the surrounding areas."
Joye Redfield-Wilder, a Department of Ecology spokeswoman, said penalized companies often contribute to environmental projects that the department can’t fund, like the rain gauges.
“We were able to get it off the ground and get it up there quickly because we’re going to be going into winter, when there’s more rain as well,” Redfield-Wilder said.
Buckhorn Gold Mine operators received a $395,000 fine, one of the largest the department has issued, after the mine released polluted wastewater into a nearby creek.
Copyright 2020 EarthFix. To see more, visit .
