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Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site

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Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site BIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site Prepared for U.S. Environmental Protection Agency January 2018 322 East Front Street, Suite 200 Boise, ID 83702 (208) 345-5310 Contents Section Page Acronyms and Abbreviations ..............................................................................................................vii 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.1 Purpose and Need ............................................................................................................ 1-1 1.2 Background ...................................................................................................................... 1-1 1.3 Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site ................................................................... 1-2 1.3.1 Mine Flooding/Berkeley Pit OU (OU 3) ............................................................... 1-3 1.3.2 Butte Priority Soils OU (OU 8) ............................................................................. 1-5 1.3.3 West Side Soils OU (OU13) ................................................................................. 1-6 1.3.4 Streamside Tailings OU (OU 1) ............................................................................ 1-6 1.3.5 Rocker Timber Framing and Treatment Plant OU (OU7) .................................... 1-9 1.3.6 Warm Springs Ponds Active Area Operable Unit (OU4) and Inactive Area Operable Unit (OU12) (WSPAAOU and WSPIAAOU) ........................................ 1-10 1.4 Endangered Species Act Action Area ............................................................................. 1-12 2 Project Description ............................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1 Proposed Action ............................................................................................................... 2-1 2.2 Warm Springs Ponds OUs Operations ............................................................................. 2-2 3 Status of Species and Critical Habitat .................................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Regulatory Status – Federal Endangered Species Act ..................................................... 3-1 3.2 Canada Lynx ..................................................................................................................... 3-4 3.2.1 Distribution and Conservation ............................................................................ 3-4 3.2.2 Life History and Habitat Requirements .............................................................. 3-4 3.2.3 Status of Canada Lynx within the Action Area .................................................... 3-5 3.3 Grizzly Bear ...................................................................................................................... 3-5 3.3.1 Distribution and Conservation ............................................................................ 3-5 3.3.2 Life History and Habitat Requirements .............................................................. 3-6 3.3.3 Status of Grizzly Bear within the Action Area ..................................................... 3-7 3.4 Bull Trout ......................................................................................................................... 3-7 3.4.1 Distribution and Conservation ............................................................................ 3-8 3.4.2 Bull Trout Recovery Plan ..................................................................................... 3-8 3.4.3 Life History and Habitat Requirements ............................................................ 3-10 3.4.4 Status of Bull Trout within the Action Area ...................................................... 3-11 4 Environmental Baseline Conditions....................................................................................... 4-1 4.1 Physical Characteristics of the Area ................................................................................. 4-1 4.2 Terrestrial Environment ................................................................................................... 4-2 4.2.1 Primary Constituent Elements for Canada Lynx ................................................. 4-5 4.3 Aquatic Environment ....................................................................................................... 4-6 4.3.1 Subbasin Description .......................................................................................... 4-6 SL1207171107BOI III CONTENTS Section Page 5 Effects Analysis ..................................................................................................................... 5-1 5.1 Effects on Terrestrial Species and Their Habitats ............................................................ 5-1 5.2 Effects on Aquatic Species and Their Habitats ................................................................ 5-2 5.2.1 Primary Constituent Elements ............................................................................ 5-3 5.2.2 Subpopulation Characteristics ............................................................................ 5-5 5.2.3 Water Quality ...................................................................................................... 5-6 5.2.4 Habitat Elements .............................................................................................. 5-17 5.2.5 Channel Condition and Dynamics ..................................................................... 5-17 5.2.6 Watershed Conditions ...................................................................................... 5-18 5.3 Interrelated and Interdependent Effects ....................................................................... 5-18 5.4 Cumulative Effects ......................................................................................................... 5-18 6 Determination of Effects for Listed Species ........................................................................... 6-1 6.1 Canada Lynx ..................................................................................................................... 6-1 6.2 Grizzly Bear ...................................................................................................................... 6-1 6.3 Bull Trout ......................................................................................................................... 6-2 7 References ............................................................................................................................ 7-1 Tables 2-1 SBCBA Site Active Remedial Elements 2-2 Normal Operation Flow Rates and Surface Elevations (2010) 3-1 Federal Listed Species with Potential to Occur in the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site Action Area 4-1 USGS Gage Stations on Silver Bow Creek 4-2 Overview of the Aquatic Environmental Baseline Conditions in the Action Area for the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site 4-8 Functional Classifications for Baseline Water Quality for Bull Trout Figures 1-1 Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area NPL Site 1-2 Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Action Area 1-3 Berkeley Pit Mine Flooding OU3 (BMFOU) 1-4 Butte Priority Soils OU8 (BPSOU) 1-5 Streamside Tailings OU1 (SSTOU) 1-6 Rocker Timber and Framing Treatment Plant OU7 (RockerOU) 1-7 Warm Springs Ponds Active Area OU4 and Inactive Area OU12 2-1 Warm Springs Ponds Flow Routing Schematic 2-2 Warm Springs Ponds Facility Features 2-3 SolarBee Mixing Unit Locations 2-4 SolarBee Design 2-5 SolarBee Area of Influence 4-1 Upper SBCBA Hydrologic Boundaries and Surface Water Features 4-2 Vegetation Types in Silver Bow Creek Watershed 4-3 Silver Bow Creek Watershed and USGS Gaging Stations 4-4 Flow Data for upper and lower SBC, WSC, and CFR below WSC (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 4-5 Action Area Water Quality Stations 4-6 Clark Fork River Biomonitoring: 2016 Monitoring Locations IV SL1207171107BOI CONTENTS 5‐1 Water Temperature in WSPs Influent (SS‐1) and below WSPs Discharge (MWP‐3) (monthly averages, 2010‐2016) 5-2 pH in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-3 TSS in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-4 Total Arsenic in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-5 Total Cadmium in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-6 Total Copper in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-7 Total Iron in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-8 Total Lead in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) 5-9 Total Zinc in WSPs Influent (SS-1) and Effluent (SS-5) (monthly averages, 2010-2016) Appendixes A IPAC B PCE Crosswalk C Matrix of Diagnostics/Pathways and Indicators SL1207171107BOI V Acronyms and Abbreviations °C degrees Celsius °F degrees Fahrenheit ac-ft acre-feet amsl above mean sea level ARAR Applicable or Relevant and Appropriate Requirement BA biological assessment BLM Bureau of Land Management BMFOU Berkeley Mine Flooding Operable Unit BMP best management practice BO biological opinion BPSOU Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit BTL Butte Treatment Lagoon CERCLA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 CFR Clark Fork River cfs cubic feet per second CHRU Columbia Headwaters Recovery Unit COC contaminant of
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