Idaho suction dredge gold miner fined by federal authorities

BOISE – An Idaho suction dredge gold miner has agreed to pay a $3,600 fine for violating the Clean Water Act on the South Fork Clearwater River in north-central Idaho.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced the agreement Tuesday with Robert Paul Rice Jr. of Idaho Falls.

The EPA says Rice broke the law with unauthorized discharge of pollutants into the river on July 22, 2015.

Federal officials say Rice ran a suction dredge on the river at a time when that activity was prohibited to protect critical habitat for steelhead and bull trout under the Endangered Species Act.