Grass Valley, CA – May 20, 2026

On Tuesday, United States District Judge William B. Shubb ruled that Rise Grass Valley is violating the law by discharging pollutants from the Idaho-Maryland Mine into Wolf Creek without a permit. The ruling establishes Rise’s liability for the pollution. This is a major victory for the plaintiff, CEA Foundation.

The Idaho-Maryland Mine, situated in Grass Valley, CA, ceased operations in 1956 and became flooded with water. Water has been flowing out of the mine into Wolf Creek since then. A series of tests of the discharge in 2018 and 2019 identified that the discharge is polluted, exceeding lawful values of arsenic, iron, and manganese.

Rise Grass Valley, a wholly owned subsidiary of Rise Gold Corp, applied for a Use Permit to reopen the mine in 2019. Included in the project proposal was a water treatment facility to eliminate the polluted mine water. After the Nevada County Board of Supervisors denied a vested rights claim in December 2023 and denied the Use Permit application in February 2024, there were no indications that the ongoing pollution of Wolf Creek was being addressed.

Consequently, CEA Foundation began an effort to stop the ongoing pollution by requesting that Rise comply with the federal law and obtain a National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit as legally required under the Clean Water Act (CWA). This is the first step in remediation of the illegal discharge under the jurisdiction of the California Water Board.

In September 2024, CEA filed a “Notice of Ongoing Violations and Intent to File a Citizen Suit” and made efforts to reach a settlement. Failing to resolve the problem via that process, the lawsuit was filed on December 20, 2024.

To avoid a lengthy court case, CEA filed a “Motion for Partial Summary Judgement” that Rise is liable under the CWA. In this process, both sides have opportunities to submit evidence and argument in writing for the judge to rule on.

On May 19, Judge Shubb ruled that: “CEA has demonstrated that Rise has ‘(1) discharged (2) a pollutant (3) into navigable waters (4) from a point source (5) without a permit,’ and therefore that Rise has violated the CWA. Id.” Thus, CEA’s motion as to Rise’s liability under the CWA was granted.

Upon news of the court’s decision, Gary Griffith, President of Wolf Creek Community Alliance, said: “This is great news and an important decision for Wolf Creek and our community. And a wonderful outcome for CEA Foundation in its efforts to reduce pollution. Protecting water quality is essential for our health and well-being.”

Following this ruling, the court will determine Rise’s civil penalties and injunctive relief. If the determination is similar to the Empire Mine and Northstar Mine water pollution cases, Rise will be responsible for providing a permanent water treatment facility.

Editor’s note: The court’s ruling is here.