By KCRA

PLACERVILLE — A mining dispute in Placerville came to some resolution Thursday as a landowner turned himself into El Dorado County deputies to face 14 criminal charges of operating without permits and polluting a creek.

Joseph Hardesty was in the middle of a dispute with government agencies in what officials called one the most egregious cases of illegal mining they have ever encountered in the Sierra Nevada foothills.

Hardesty was suspected of operating an illegal mine on 30 acres of land and had already faces fines leading up to his arrest, deputies said.

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