Mining Tax to Fund Study Will Be Decided by Voters

City voters will go to the polls today for a special election on Measure M, a tax that would fund a study of the mining industry’s environmental impact on Irwindale.

If approved by a two-thirds majority of voters, the 9.74-cent-per-ton mining tax would only be imposed on mining-related entities, and revenues would be funneled into a “mining impact fund.”

That fund includes monitoring mining and processing activities, cleaning and repairing streets, controlling mining traffic, improving air and water quality, and reclaiming mining pits and contaminated soil.

The tax would raise about $500,000 annually and would be imposed until $5.5 million is collected to fund the study and mitigation efforts, City Manager Robert Griego said.

The tax would be in addition to the current 16-cent-per-ton general mining tax, which goes into the city’s general fund and last year generated more than $1.2 million.

“The study will tell us what we really need and what it really costs,” Griego said. “Our economic future is dependent on the future reclamation of [Irwindale’s] mining pits.”