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California's Abandoned Mines

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California's Abandoned Mines California’s Abandoned Mines A Report on the Magnitude and Scope of the Issue in the State Volume I Department of Conservation Office of Mine Reclamation Abandoned Mine Lands Unit June, 2000 TABLE OF CONTENTS: VOLUME I ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................... 5 PREPARERS OF THIS REPORT ....................................................................................... 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................... 7 OVERVIEW.......................................................................................................................... 7 KEY FINDINGS .................................................................................................................... 8 OTHER STATE AND FEDERAL AML PROGRAMS ...................................................................... 8 OPTIONS............................................................................................................................. 8 BACKGROUND .................................................................................................................11 CALIFORNIA'S MINING HISTORY .......................................................................................... 12 Metallic Mining........................................................................................................... 14 Non-Metallic Mining................................................................................................... 22 THE ABANDONED MINE LANDS TASK FORCE ....................................................................... 23 Definition of Abandoned Mine ................................................................................... 23 Petroleum Mines......................................................................................................... 24 REGULATIONS, AUTHORITIES, AND RESPONSIBILITIES.......................................................... 25 Local Lead Agencies ................................................................................................... 25 State Agencies............................................................................................................ 26 Federal Agencies......................................................................................................... 26 Landowners................................................................................................................ 26 Reclamation Under Federal Jurisdiction................................................................... 32 CLEAN WATER, THE ENVIRONMENT AND PUBLIC AT RISK.....................................34 FINDINGS ......................................................................................................................... 34 AT RISK AREAS FOR CHEMICAL (ENVIRONMENTAL) HAZARDS................................................ 36 EXAMPLES OF RECENTLY REPORTED ABANDONED MINE HAZARDS ....................................... 37 Physical Hazards ........................................................................................................ 37 Chemical (Environmental) Hazards ........................................................................... 39 PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF ABANDONED MINE LANDS........................................ 41 Historical and Cultural Resources............................................................................ 41 Wildlife Habitat........................................................................................................... 42 EXAMPLES FROM OTHER STATE AND FEDERAL AM L PROGRAMS........................43 SMCRA STATES............................................................................................................... 43 NON -SMCRA STATES....................................................................................................... 43 Nevada ........................................................................................................................ 44 Arizona........................................................................................................................ 44 South Dakota ............................................................................................................. 45 Pacific Northwest........................................................................................................ 45 FEDERAL EFFORTS............................................................................................................ 45 PROGRAM OPTIONS .......................................................................................................47 INVENTORY ....................................................................................................................... 47 WATERSHED ASSESSMENTS AND REMEDIATION ................................................................... 47 PHYSICAL HAZARD REMEDIATION ....................................................................................... 48 HYDRAULIC MINE SITES..................................................................................................... 49 MERCURY RECYCLING ....................................................................................................... 49 PUBLIC EDUCATION : “STAY-OUT , STAY-ALIVE”.................................................................... 50 CEQA REVIEW PROGRAM.................................................................................................. 51 FUNDING AND LIABILITY..................................................................................................... 52 - 2 - California’s Abandoned Mines: Volume I 3 Amend SMCRA ........................................................................................................... 52 Amend the 1872 Mining Law..................................................................................... 52 Return Claim Fees To States..................................................................................... 52 California’s “Water Bond” .......................................................................................... 52 CALFED ...................................................................................................................... 53 Pollution Trading........................................................................................................ 53 The US Army Corps of Engineers’ RAMS Program.................................................... 53 Create AML Program Parallel to “LUFT” Program ..................................................... 53 CERCLA And CWA Liability....................................................................................... 54 Possible State Liability and Existing AML Hazards ................................................... 54 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................... 56 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................. 58 Office of Mine Reclamation June 2000 California’s Abandoned Mines: Volume I 4 LIST OF TABLES Table 1: Summary of Commodities in MAS/MILS..........................................................14 Table 2: Major State Laws Effecting Abandoned Mine Reclamation in California (Anon 1972, CMA 1999)..............................................................................................27 Table 3: Major Federal Laws Effecting Abandoned Mine Reclamation in California (Anon 1972, CMA 1999).............................................................................29 Table 4: Estimated dollars spent as of January, 2000 to address abandoned mine site s under existing State and Federal Laws.....................................................31 Table 5: Reclamation by Federal Agencies......................................................................32 Table 6: Estimated Costs To Mitigate or Remediate the Physical and Chemical Hazards of Abandoned Mine Lands in California (excluding Iron Mountain) (calculated per Dolzani et. al. 1994, Smit 1995, USEPA 1997). ................................36 Table 7: Watersheds with the highest potential for impacts by ARD, arsenic (As) or mercury from mercury mines (Hg) or from Placer and Hydraulic mines (Placer). The frequency of mines is given under the columns for the potential contaminant. Only the top two categories for each contaminant are shown. Data for ARD, As, and Placer derived from MRDS; data for Hg derived from DMG Mercury File.................................................................................37 Table 8: Expenditures By a Sampling of States’ AML Programs On Non-Coal Mines In One Year (WGA 1998) ..................................................................................44 Office of Mine Reclamation June 2000 California’s Abandoned Mines: Volume I 5 Acknowledgements The Abandoned Mine Lands Unit would like to thank the following people for their assistance in developing this report. Charlie Alpers, US Geological Survey (USGS); Vic Anderson, Montana Department of Environmental Quality; Roger Ashley, USGS; Phil Bayles, US Forest Service (USFS); Trinda Bedrossian, DOC/DMG; Betsy Bolster, California Department of Fish and Game (CDFG); Ron Churchhill, DOC/DMG; Janine Clayton, USFS; Barbara Coler, Dept. of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC); Alan R. Coyner, Nevada Division of Minerals; Jenny Decker, CDFG; Dick Forester, Bureau of Land Management
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