San Jose M-N

Published Friday, July 6, 2001, in the San Jose Mercury News

Proposed cat litter plant faces battle

RESIDENTS, TRIBES CONCERNED ABOUT HARM FROM NEVADA CLAY MINE, PROCESSING FACTORY

BY SCOTT SONNER Associated Press

RENO -- The politically charged battle over U.S. mining regulations is playing itself out at a claim in Hungry Valley, on the edge of this northern Nevada city. But the claim isn't for gold or silver or other precious metal.

It's for cat litter -- albeit some of the finest cat litter known to grace a box.

Residents are fighting Oil-Dri Corp.'s plans for an open-pit clay mine and processing plant. They don't want the dust, the noise or the huge trucks rolling past their new school. Neighboring tribes are also opposed, fearing harm to their ancestors' graves.

Nevertheless, those foes might be powerless to stop it because of the General Mining Law of 1872, passed to encourage development on the Western frontier.

``Do you really think Ulysses S. Grant thought he was including kitty litter when he signed this into law?'' asked Tom Myers, a hydrologist and head of the Great Basin Mine Watch, an environmental group.

The clay mine is planned on about 300 acres of federal land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The area, about 10 miles from downtown Reno, is bordered by a fast-growing residential area.

Oil-Dri is the world's largest maker of cat litter. The Chicago-based company owns the Cat's Pride brand, and it supplies litter sold under other names. It also sells clay used for fuel filtration, agriculture and to absorb grease and oil at industrial plants.

``We really do want to be a good neighbor,'' said Craig Paisley, manager of Oil-Dri's Reno plant, which is expected to employ up to 100 workers. ``We have no intention of coming in and trying to alienate people.''

The Reno site is attractive for the dry, high-quality clay found beneath the desert sagebrush, where less than seven inches of rain falls annually. Quality in this case means absorbency, density and hardness.

``The mineral's only available in certain parts of the country,'' said Jayne Weiske, product manager of Oil-Dri's consumer division.

Federal officials aren't taking sides, but they suggest it would be difficult to halt the mine even if they wanted to.

``BLM's authority . . . is not to decide if mining should be allowed, but to regulate how activities already authorized by the General Mining Law of 1872 are to be conducted,'' a recent draft environmental impact statement said.

That point is not lost on conservationists, who have been trying for decades to rewrite the law, which makes ``uncommon, locatable'' minerals on federal lands generally available to miners.

Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt revised regulations to give the government new authority to deny permits if mining would cause ``substantial irreparable harm'' to significant resources of the public lands. But Babbitt's successor, Gale Norton, is moving to roll back some of Babbitt's changes at the urging of the mining industry.

Environmentalists say the government's lack of authority to reject a mine site, even when it borders a residential area, is precisely why the 1872 law should be overhauled.

Not that cat litter doesn't have its value. The Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada estimates Oil-Dri's project would generate $100 million over five years for the local economy.

Company officials said the Reno project won't disrupt sacred tribal sites and said they would make changes the BLM recommended to reduce dust and route traffic away from the new school.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Answers

Maybe I'd better increase my stash. It's not as if you can recycle the stuff. Or is it?

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Believe it or not, I recycle cat litter, first it is used in the house for a fresh clean smell, then after a while it is used in the boxes in the garage, if It is still useabl, it is next used in the shed, then finally into a shallow pit in the kitty pen, where it is "washed" by the rain! this is the clay litter, not the scoopable litter. btw, I scoop SEVERAL times a day, and have 14 littler boxed going!

I am a fanatic on NOT smelling CAT in my house. if we have one with a problem, the get moved to the garage, if they still have a problem...(marking their territory..) then they go to the Cat house (the shed) I think for the most part, the kitties are all happy and content.

BTW I spend more on the kitties that the horses! for upkeep!

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Sar--

You must be my long lost twin, LOL.

One of the best compliments I've ever received was :

"Oh my god, you've got FIVE housecats? I never would have known it if I hadn't seen them."

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

Make it triplets. I may not always achieve my goal, but on the odd occasions I don't, NOBODY gets in this house who doesn't live here. I too am a fanatic about my house not smelling of cats and I love it when people are shocked that it doesn't. I owe it mostly to Scoop-Away and Arm and Hammer litter box deodorant.

-- Anonymous, July 06, 2001

The most cats I ever had at one time was 13, but I was living in the mountains then, they could go in and out off the top deck and down an old oak tree, so I never had to use litter boxes.

SARO1, I've seen pictures you've posted of your house, lost of beautiful country around, why are you letting them shit in the house?

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

the neighbor has a .357 and likes to shoot cats.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Carl, the neighbor that is 15 ft from my property line...doesn't like cats, and he has a 357 mag to get his point across. all but 2 cats were barn cats, they think they dies and went to heaven when we moved here. I thought they'd be so happy and free, 10 acres, all the tress to climb....the first day we left them out, "BANG BANG BANG" my one kittie was so terrified, she couldn't run and shit herself right there. I had to go grab her and wash her, and that is that, he has a right to not have cats, and I have a right to have my cats, but with the stakes being what they are, I will buy litter rather than have to bury kitties!

NOW...if we can just get him to MOVE!!!!!!!!

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Hummm... I'd get my own .357 and have a heart to heart with my neighbor... he doesn't have to live with cats, I don't have to live with assholes...

It's a start for negotiations...

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

The people around here are more insidious--there's one a few blocks up the street that I just know is responsible for poisoning at least one cat and a little dog; he also shoots at cats. I'm also 99-44/100% sure he shoots the hawks around here. He's a bird guy, feeders all over his front yard and is always threatening people about their pets. These people are bullies who've gone a couple of steps beyond.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Here's one you don't hear everyday. A farmer we know told us that tom cats in his area were disappearing then reappearing after a week or so. They were always healthy and well-fed, but sans gonads.

Turns out one of the neighbors was neutering any tom cat he could catch.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

Cats should be kept inside. Period. They are far too destructive. It's beyond me that there isn't a single cat owner in the area who is willing to accept responsibility for what their cats do. OK, maybe I could concede the idea of keeping the cat within your property bounds, but I've never seen that happen.

There was only one neighborhood cat I was ready to dispatch, and that was because it had a mission to kill any cat it came across. I finally convinced the owners to put it down. (It wasn't that they ever cared what their little monster was doing, they thought I was about to sue them.)

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001

I help the Hungarian trap cats to be checked for feuleuk or AIDS, neutered, spayed and given shots. Most of them are unwanted strays that have turned feral but I'm sure at least a few of them belong to people who don't take good care of them. By setting up feeding stations in sheltered areas and providing food and fresh water on a regular basis to the small colonies, the animals are less likely to cause problems for humans and wildlife.

Update on Mojo. Mojo is the stray who's been hanging around here for several months. I've gradually made friends with him, planning to catch and take him to the vet for treatment as described above. He ran away at the sight of the Havahart and didn't come back for several hours. Each time he saw it, the result was the same. I could get him to eat inside a large carrier but he always kept one foot outside. The one time I tried to shut the door, Mojo came out fighting and I, sensibly, backed off.

The next plan was to get him in the den (which opens to the outside) and slip him a Mickey Finn. Getting him in the den was easy. He ate only two-thirds of the spiked food, though, enough to make him wobble a bit, not enough to let me get him in a carrier. He's been living in the den ever since and refuses to go outside. Took to a litter box like the proverbial duck to water. It's been two days now. He thinks he's died and gone to heaven and won't leave the softness of the sofa, except to eat and use the litter box.

We're going to try another Mickey Finn next week. If that doesn't work, the vet has offered to come over and try to give him a shot, which will knock him out. Whether he means Mojo or himself, I'm not sure.

-- Anonymous, July 07, 2001