Nevada city and Grass Valley in CA have had years of gold mining. I 
know that cyinide (SP?) was used to separate the gold from the rock. I
want to know how safe the water is to drink becasue we're thinking
about buying property there. Are there graphs or a place I can find
out? I'm not finding any answers on the internet.  TINA

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Request for Question Clarification by pafalafa-ga on 27 Oct 2004 18:43 PDT

Hello Tina,

Cyanide generally isn't a long-lasting pollutant, and I would be
surprised if that's a problem in the drinking water supply.  However,
to get definite answer, you'll probably need to know how the property
under consideration is serviced.  Does it have its own well, or does
it get water from a local water company?  You should ask a real estate
broker familiar with the area about this.

Also, get in touch with the local office of the California State
Drinking Water Program in their Health Services Dept:


http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ps/ddwem/technical/dwp/districtoffices.pdf


They'll be able to steer you to the appropriate sources of information.  


Let us know if there's a specific water supply company you would like
some more information about, and we'll see if we can find anything for
you.

All the best,

pafalafa-ga

You may find this to be helpful:

http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/overview.nsf/0/0910a5ef115843c988256802007f6955?OpenDocument