The sand-dredging is one weapon China is using against Taiwan in a campaign of so-called gray-zone warfare, which entails using irregular tactics to exhaust a foe without actually resorting to open combat. “They usually leave after we drive them away, but they come back again after we go away.”
“They think this area is part of China’s territory,” said Lin, referring to Chinese dredgers that have been intruding into Matsu’s waters. Upon spotting Lin’s boat, armed with two water cannons and a machine gun, the dredgers quickly pulled up anchor and headed back toward the Chinese coast. Parked just outside Taiwan’s waters, neither of the dredgers clearly displayed their names, making it difficult for a crew member to identify them as he peered through binoculars. Half an hour into the patrol, Lin’s nine-man crew spotted two 3,000-ton dredgers, dwarfing their 100-ton vessel. The Chinese goal, Taiwanese officials say: pressure Taiwan by tying down the island democracy’s naval defenses and undermining the livelihoods of Matsu residents. He was on the lookout for Chinese sand-dredging ships encroaching on waters controlled by Taiwan. A few kilometers away, the Chinese coast was faintly visible from Lin’s boat. On a chilly morning in late January, Lin, clad in an orange uniform, stood on the rolling deck of his boat as it patrolled in choppy waters off the Taiwan-run Matsu Islands. “The Court is satisfied that this penalty accounts for the harm involved, deters future violations, and represents an equitable application of the law,” Patricco wrote.A sand-dredging ship with a Chinese flag is seen in the waters off the Taiwan-controlled Matsu islands, January 28, 2021. Patricco also included in the fine the value of the gold Poe pulled from the river, roughly $10,500. Ultimately, Patricco decided on a fine of $3,320 per violation for a total of about $139,500.
Patricco, in a lengthy analysis of the potential fine, noted that suction-dredge gold mining is allowed on the South Fork of the Clearwater River, but that Poe repeatedly dredged without required permits. Poe said a fine of about $61,000 would be in line with the environmental impacts and would be enough to deter him from dredging in the river again without the required permits. The Idaho Conservation League argued for a fine of $565,000. The maximum penalty Poe faced ranged from $37,500 to $60,000 per violation based on when the dredging occurred, adding up to nearly $2 million. That led to the remedial phase of the case that resulted the $150,000 fine issued to Poe on Wednesday. Army Corps of Engineers agreed that the operation of a suction dredge resulted in discharge of processed waste, requiring the permit. He said that even if his suction dredge did add pollutants, it would be considered dredged or fill material regulated under a different section of the Clean Water Act, also not requiring a specific type of permit.īut Chief U.S. Poe’s defense was to argue he didn’t need any type of Clean Water Act permit because his suction dredge didn’t add pollutants to the river. The Idaho Conservation League also said Poe encouraged unpermitted mining by other gold seekers in Idaho rivers. Critics say dredging can destroy fish spawning beds, and that discharged sediment can smother fish eggs.įederal and state agencies repeatedly notified Poe of the violations, but Poe denied being subject to the Clean Water Act, according to the lawsuit filed by the Idaho Conservation League. The waterway where Poe operated is designated critical habitat for federally protected steelhead, salmon and bull trout. Suction dredge miners use an underwater hose to suck up gravel and sort it for gold in a sluice box mounted on a watercraft. His attorneys, Constance Brooks of Fairfield and Woods, P.C., in Denver, Colorado, and Alan Schroeder of Schroeder Law in Boise, Idaho, also didn't respond to phone messages left by The Associated Press. Poe didn't return a phone message left for him on Thursday at the Coulterville, California-based American Mining Rights Association, where he serves as president. "This ruling, which represents one of the largest Clean Water Act fines ever levied in Idaho against an individual, should send a clear message to miners, or anyone, who refuses to follow the rules,” said Jonathan Oppenheimer of the Idaho Conservation League in a statement on Thursday. The Idaho Conservation League filed a citizen enforcement lawsuit in August 2018 against Poe, saying federal and state officials didn’t act to make sure dozens of dredge miners followed the law. The violations, according to court documents, took place in 2014, 20. Treasury following Poe's 42 violations over three years of gold dredging on the South Fork of the Clearwater River. Patricco ordered Poe to pay the $150,000 to the U.S.
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