DOCSLIB.ORG

Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site, Boulder Creek Operable Unit

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site, Boulder Creek Operable Unit ^ SFUNO RECORDS CTR 1652-01707 AR0050 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE SUPERFUND SITE BOULDER CREEK OPERABLE UNIT September 1992 Record of Decision Redding, California ADMINISTRATIVE RECORD CUMULATIVE INDEX UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGION IX FACT SHEET FACT SHEET Administrative Records in Local Repositories The "administrative record" is the collection of documents which form the basis for an agency's decision, in this case the selection of a response action at a Superfund site. Under Section 113(k) of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), as amended by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), EPA is required to establish an administrative record for every Superfund response action and to make a copy of the administrative record available at or near the site. ' . The administrative record must be reasonably available for public review during normal business hours. It should be treated as a non-circulating reference document, in order to allow the public greater access to the record and also to minimize the risk of loss or damage. Individuals may copy any documents contained in the administrative record, according to the copying procedures at the local repository. The administrative record will be maintained at the local repository until further notice. Periodically EPA may send supplements and indexes directly to the local repository. These supplements must be placed with the initial administrative record. Questions regarding the maintenance of the administrative record should be directed to: Administrative Record Coodinator Superfund Records Center U.S. EPA (H-6-1) 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105 . (415) 744-2165 EPA welcomes comments at any time on documents contained in the administrative record. Please send comments on the Iron Mountain Mine Administrative Record to: Rick Sugarek or: Fraser Felter Remedial Project Manager Community Relations Coordinator U.S. EPA (H-6-2) U.S. EPA (H-l-1) 75 Hawthorne Street 75 Hawthorne Street San Francisco, CA 94105 San Francisco, CA 94105 (415) 744-2226 (415) 744-2181 or 1-800-231-3075 EPA may hold formal public comment periods at certain stages of the response process. The public is urged to use these formal \) review periods to submit their comments. INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION IRON MOUNTAIN MINE SUPERFDND SITE BOULDER CREEK OPERABLE UNIT Redding, California Administrative Record and Index The administrative record file for the Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site Boulder Creek Operable Unit, Redding, California, contains documents ranging in date from June 1901 to May 1992. Two indexes are provided. The first index presents the documents in ascending chronological order. Undated documents are placed at the beginning of each sequence. The second index presents the documents in exactly the order in which they appear on the rolls of film. This second index is not in strict chronological order. Each document in both indices is assigned a unique number from 1 to 2,446. Records beginning with MWA" in the subject description were indexed by CH2M Hill. Oversize documents, such as maps, are on a separate roll of wider (35 mm) film. A list of abbreviations and acronyms with their full names is provided in this binder. After the numbering and microfilming process had been completed, EPA determined that approximately 126 documents, not part of the administrative record, had been inappropriately included. These documents are not included in the administrative record and account for occasional gaps in the number sequence of the administrative record index. Having been removed from the index, they still remain represented on microfilm with confidential targets. These targets should be disregarded. DOCUMENTS HOUSED IN RECORDS CENTER Approximately 50 documents in this administrative record consist of sampling and computer modeling data that have been determined too voluminous to be physically included in the body of documents at the repositories. Although EPA guidance indicates it is not necessary to include such documents in the information repositories, these documents have been made available for public review at the Region 9 Superfund Records Center in San Francisco. In addition, there are a number of documents or parts of documents which do not lend themselves to microfilm reproduction. Most of these documents are color photographs which copy poorly on microfilm. These documents are also available for public review at the Records Center in San Francisco. If you wish to review any of these documents not available in the repositories, please contact Region 9 Superfund Records Center, H-6-l, 75 Hawthorne Street, San Francisco, CA 94105; Phone: (415) 744-2166. ITEMS HOUSED AT CH2M HILL, REDDING, CALIFORNIA Certain oversize mine maps, photographs, and analytical sampling data produced by CH2M Hill, are listed in the administrative record, in AR 74 and AR 2418. The items themselves are available for public review at CH2M Hill, 2525 Air Park Drive, Redding, CA 96001; Phone: (916) 243-5886. ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATION Page No. 1 05/18/92 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM LIST ABBREVIATION DEFINITION amdt amendment(s) attch attachment(s) cont contract doc document(s) encl enclosure(s) ex exemption fax telefacsimile info information Itr letter(s) memo memorandum mod modification(s) mtg meeting(s) per according to re regarding rev revision rpt report(s) rtg routing v volume w/ . with w/o without Page No. 2 05/18/92 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM LIST ACRONYM FULL NAME AC- FT Acre feet AE Alternatives evaluation i AH Applied Hydrogeologic Consultants AIME American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical & Petroleum Engineers AMD Acid mine drainage AO Administrative order AOC Acknowledgement of completion ARAR Applicable or relevant & appropriate requirements ARCS Alternative remedial contract strategy ARCSWEST Arcswest ARS Advanced Recovery Systems Investors ATKEMIX Atkemix Thirty-Seven, Inc ATSDR Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry American Water Works Association AZ Arizona BAT Best available treatment BC Brown & Caldwell *r BFP Brick flat pit BOM" Bureau of Mines BOR Bureau of Reclamation CA State of California CADFG CA Dept of Fish & Game CADOHS CA Dept of Health Services CBI Confidential business information Page No. 3 05/18/92 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM LIST ACRONYM FULL NAME CEQA CA environmental quality act CERCLA Comprehensive environmental response, * compensation, & liability act CERCLIS Comprehensive environmental response, compensation, & liability information system / CFEST Coupled fluid energy solute transport (model used to simulate flow of groundwater contaminants) CFR California Flex-Rake Corp CH2MHILL CH2M Hill CIM Canadian Institute of Mining CKP&F Carr, Kennedy, Peterson & Frost CLP CLP Sample Management Office CRP Community relations plan CRWQCB CA Regional Water Quality Control Board CRWQCB-CV CA Regional Water Quality Control Board - Central Valley Region CSMRI Colorado School of Mines Research Institute CSS CSS Management Corporation CTCORPSYS CT Corp System CTL Crescent Truck Lines cv" Central Valley CVP Central Valley Project / CWA Clean water act CWRCB CA Water Resources Control Board CXTFIT Solute transport model used to estimate properties of contaminants Page No. 4 05/18/92 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM LIST ACRONYM FULL NAME DC Work plan DHS California department of health services DO Delivery order DOHS California department of health services DOJ US department of justice EA Endangerment assessment EBASCO Ebasco Services, Inc EERU Environmental emergency response unit EIR Environmental impact report EIS Environmental impact statement EPA Environmental Protection Agency EPOC EPOC ERGS Emergency removal cleanup services ERS Emergency response section (EPA) ESAT Environmental service assistance team BSD Explanation of significant differences FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission FFA- Federal facility agreement Field investigation team FML Flexible membrane lining FOI Freedom of information FOIA Freedom of information act FS Feasibility study FY Fiscal Year Page No. 5 05/18/92 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM LIST ACRONYM FULL NAME / GAC/MAC Geological Association of Canada/Mineralogical ' Association of Canada * GW Groundwater HDS High density sludge HELP Hydrological evaluation of landfill performance (looks at leakage in lining/cover of landfill) HQ Headquarters HRS Hazardous ranking system IAG Inter agency agreement ICF ICF Technology, Inc ICI ICI Americas, Inc ID Identification IM Iron Mountain IMIC Iron Mountain Investment Co IMMI Iron Mountain Mine, Inc IPL Interim priorities list KW&D Klein, Wegis & Duggan LDCC Low density cellular concrete LOE- Level of effort MF _ Minnesota flats MLS Milton L Schwartz (Judge) MOA Memorandum of agreement MOU Memorandum of understanding MRRCO Mining Remedial Recovery Co, Inc MSCA Multi-site cooperative agreement Page No. 6 05/18/92 IRON MOUNTAIN MINE ABBREVIATION AND ACRONYM LIST ACRONYM FULL NAME MSDS Material safety data sheet MT Montana NCP National contingency plan NJ New Jersey NOAA US Dept of Commerce - National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration NPDES National pollutant discharge elimination system NPL National priority list NTIS National technical information service NTP National toxicology program OF60 Optional form 60 J 0MB Office of management & budget ORC Office of Regional Counsel (EPA) OSC Oakland Scavenger Co OSHA Occupational safety & health administration OSWER Office
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Raman Spectroscopy of Efflorescent
    ASTROBIOLOGY Volume 13, Number 3, 2013 ª Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. DOI: 10.1089/ast.2012.0908 Raman Spectroscopy of Efflorescent Sulfate Salts from Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site, California Pablo Sobron1 and Charles N. Alpers2 Abstract The Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site near Redding, California, is a massive sulfide ore deposit that was mined for iron, silver, gold, copper, zinc, and pyrite intermittently for nearly 100 years. As a result, both water and air reached the sulfide deposits deep within the mountain, producing acid mine drainage consisting of sulfuric acid and heavy metals from the ore. Particularly, the drainage water from the Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain is among the most acidic waters naturally found on Earth. The mineralogy at Iron Mountain can serve as a proxy for understanding sulfate formation on Mars. Selected sulfate efflorescent salts from Iron Mountain, formed from extremely acidic waters via drainage from sulfide mining, have been characterized by means of Raman spectroscopy. Gypsum, ferricopiapite, copiapite, melanterite, coquimbite, and voltaite are found within the samples. This work has implications for Mars mineralogical and geochemical investigations as well as for terrestrial environmental investigations related to acid mine drainage contamination. Key Words: Acid mine drainage—Efflorescent sulfate minerals—Mars analogue—Iron Mountain—Laser Raman spectroscopy. Astro- biology 13, 270–278. 1. Introduction efflorescent sulfate minerals. This reconnaissance sampling resulted in characterization of the extremely acidic mine ron Mountain, California, is the host of massive sulfide waters (pH values from - 3.6 to + 0.5) and a variety of iron- Ideposits that were mined for copper, zinc, gold, silver, and sulfate efflorescent salts (Nordstrom and Alpers, 1999; pyrite (for sulfuric acid) between the early 1860s and the early Nordstrom et al., 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site Long Term O&M Challenges
    Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site Long Term O&M Challenges August 12-14, 2014 James Sickles, U.S. EPA Region 9 National Conference on Mining-Influenced Waters: Approaches for Characterization, Source Control and Treatment Albuquerque,Long Term New O&M MexicoChallenges | 1 Iron Mountain Mine Site • Site Setting • Mining Impacts • Geologic Setting • Mining Chronology • Mining Processes • Site Remedial Components • O&M Challenges • Issues and the Future Long Term O&M Challenges | 2 Site Setting • Located 9 miles northwest of Redding, CA • Consists of more Iron Mountain Shasta Lake than a dozen sulfide mines Sacramento River • Covers approximately 4,400 acres, with over 2,500 feet of relief • Mines produced Spring Creek Reservoir silver, copper, zinc and pyrite Long Term O&M Challenges | 3 Mining Impacts • Fish kills in the Sacramento River • Open-air heap roasting and smelters stripped the land of vegetation for over 100 square miles along lower Spring Creek • Acid mine water seeping into the Sacramento River, created sediment deposits in Keswick Keswick Smelter Reservoir Operations 1895 - 1907 • Drinking water source for the city of Redding is the Sacramento River downstream Long Term O&M Challenges | 4 Mining Impacts • Mining influenced waters (MIW) with pH as low as -3.6 found in Richmond Mine workings • 10,000 pounds of iron, 650 pounds of copper, and 1,800 pounds of zinc were discharged per day prior to remediation • AMD entering Keswick Reservoir precipitated more than 200,000 cubic yards of metal rich sediment into the Spring Creek
    [Show full text]
  • UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations
    UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Analyzing Microbial Physiology and Nutrient Transformation in a Model, Acidophilic Microbial Community using Integrated `Omics' Technologies Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/259113st Author Justice, Nicholas Bruce Publication Date 2013 Supplemental Material https://escholarship.org/uc/item/259113st#supplemental Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Analyzing Microbial Physiology and Nutrient Transformation in a Model, Acidophilic Microbial Community using Integrated ‘Omics’ Technologies By Nicholas Bruce Justice A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Jillian Banfield, Chair Professor Mary Firestone Professor Mary Power Professor John Coates Fall 2013 Abstract Analyzing Microbial Physiology and Nutrient Transformation in a Model, Acidophilic Microbial Community using Integrated ‘Omics’ Technologies by Nicholas Bruce Justice Doctor of Philosophy in Microbiology University of California, Berkeley Professor Jillian F. Banfield, Chair Understanding how microorganisms contribute to nutrient transformations within their community is critical to prediction of overall ecosystem function, and thus is a major goal of microbial ecology. Communities of relatively tractable complexity provide a unique opportunity to study the distribution of metabolic characteristics amongst microorganisms and how those characteristics subscribe diverse ecological functions to co-occurring, and often closely related, species. The microbial communities present in the low-pH, metal-rich environment of the acid mine drainage (AMD) system in Richmond Mine at Iron Mountain, CA constitute a model microbial community due to their relatively low diversity and extensive characterization over the preceding fifteen years.
    [Show full text]
  • MAP SHOWING LOCATIONS of MINES and PROSPECTS in the DILLON Lox 2° QUADRANGLE, IDAHO and MONTANA
    DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY MAP SHOWING LOCATIONS OF MINES AND PROSPECTS IN THE DILLON lox 2° QUADRANGLE, IDAHO AND MONTANA By JeffreyS. Loen and Robert C. Pearson Pamphlet to accompany Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map I-1803-C Table !.--Recorded and estimated production of base and precious metals in mining districts and areas in the Dillon 1°x2° guadrangle, Idaho and Montana [Production of other commodities are listed in footnotes. All monetary values are given in dollars at time of production. Dashes indicate no information available. Numbers in parentheses are estimates by the authors or by those cited as sources of data in list that follows table 2. <,less than; s.t., short tons] District/area Years Ore Gold Silver Copper Lead Zinc Value Sources name (s. t.) (oz) (oz) (lb) (lb) (lb) (dollars) of data Idaho Carmen Creek 18 70's-190 1 (50,000) 141, 226 district 1902-1980 (unknown) Total (50,000) Eldorado 1870's-1911 17,500 (350 ,000) 123, 226 district 1912-1954 (13,000) (8,000) (300,000) Total (650,000) Eureka district 1880's-1956 (13 ,500) 12,366 (2,680,000) 57,994 (4,000) ( 4,000 ,000) 173 Total (4,000,000) Gibbonsville 1877-1893 (unknown) district 1894-1907 (83,500) (1,670,000) 123, 226 1908-1980 ( <10 ,000) 123 Total (2,000,000) Kirtley Creek 1870's-1890 2,000 40,500 173 district 1890's-1909 (<10,000) 1910-1918 24,300 (500 ,000) 123 1919-1931 (unknown) 1932-1947 2,146 (75 ,000) 173 Total (620,000) McDevitt district 1800's.-1980 (80,000) Total (80,000) North Fork area 1800's-1980 (unknown) Total ( <10 ,000) Pratt Creek 1870's-1900 (50 ,000) district Total (50,000) Sandy Creek 1800 's-1900 (unknown) district 1901-1954 19,613 4,055 4,433 71,359 166,179 (310,000) 17 3, 200 Total (310 ,000) Montana Anaconda Range 1880's-1980 (<100,000) area Total (<100,000) Argenta district 1864-1901 (1 ,500 ,000) 1902-1965 311,796 72,241 562,159 604,135 18,189,939 2,009,366 5,522,962 88 Total (7,000,000) Baldy Mtn.
    [Show full text]
  • Iron Mountain Mines, Inc. P.O
    Iron Mountain Mines, Inc. P.O. Box 992867, Redding, CA 96099 Tel (530) 275-4550 Fax (530) 275-4559 SHASTA COUNTY RECORDERS OFFICE NOTICE OF ADVERSE CLAIMS APPLICATION FOR RELOCATION OF PATENTS DECLARATION AND AFFIDAVIT AGAINST JOINT AND SEVERAL TRESPASSERS I, T.W. (Ted) Arman, am the purchaser of Iron Mountain Mines, I am the sole shareholder of Iron Mountain Mines, Inc., and successor in interests as grantee and assignee of all rights, privileges, and immunities of patent title from Colonel William Magee, Mr. Charles Camden, Iron Mountain Corporation, Iron Mountain Investment Co., Mountain Copper Co., and Stauffer Chemical Co. concerning the locations, pursuant to the mining law of 1866, of the Noble and Scott consolidated, Home Stake, Home Stake extension, Home Stake fraction, Copper Mountain, Mountain Copper, Monarch Copper, Boston Copper, Tehama Copper, Geology Copper, Leap Year Copper, Redding Copper, Sugar Loaf Copper, Trinity Copper, Shasta Copper, Halite, Limonite, Depending, Cuprite, Purity, and Letier lode mining claims, which mining property was originally patented May 1, 1862, that is the apex of the Flat Creek mining district for which I am the successor in interest as grantee. I purchased these patented mineral estates along with other patented properties in December, 1976. This purchase included an option for the purchase of the remaining patented mineral estates, which purchase was upset and interfered with by agents and agencies of the state and federal governments who conspired by false claims, malice, fraud, oppression,
    [Show full text]
  • Acid Mine Drainage Prediction
    EPA 530-R-94-036 NTIS PB94-201829 TECHNICAL DOCUMENT ACID MINE DRAINAGE PREDICTION December 1994 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste Special Waste Branch 401 M Street, SW Washington, DC 20460 Acid Mine Drainage Prediction DISCLAIMER AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The mention of company or product names in this document is not to be considered an endorsement by the U.S. Government or by the EPA. This technical document consists of a brief review of acid forming processes at mine sites, followed by a summary of the current methods used to predict acid formation, selected state regulatory requirements, and case histories. This report was distributed for review to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Mines and Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, the American Mining Congress, the Mineral Policy Center, representatives of state agencies, and public interest groups. EPA is grateful to all individuals who took the time to review this technical document. The use of the terms "extraction," "beneficiation," and "mineral processing" in this document is not intended to classify any waste stream for the purposes of regulatory interpretation or application. Rather, these terms are used in the context of common industry terminology. Acid Mine Drainage Prediction TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1 1.1 Oxidation of Metal Sulfides ..................................................... 4 1.2 Source of Acid and Contributing Factors ........................................... 5 2. ACID GENERATION PREDICTION ................................................. 9 2.1 Sampling .................................................................... 11 2.2 Static Tests .................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Iron Mountain Mine Case Study Success Through Planning, Partnerships, and Perseverance
    arly in its history, Iron Mountain Mine was famous for being the most productive copper mine in California and one of the largest Ein the world. In recent years, the legacy of mining at Iron Mountain turned its fame to infamy, as the site became known as the largest source of surface water pollution in the United States and the source of the world’s most corrosive water. Even so, 40 years after the cessation of mining activities, scientists seeking to understand how to control the risks posed by the site made a valuable discovery of a different kind at Iron Mountain: a new species of microbe that thrives in the extreme conditions deep within the mountain. While pollution from the site has not posed any great risk to the approximately 100,000 people living in the nearby City of Redding, the same can not be said for the salmon, trout, and other aquatic organisms that have struggled for survival downstream of Iron Mountain. More than 20 years of work by EPA, other Federal and California State agencies, and potentially responsible parties (PRPs)—much of it underwritten by Superfund—is finally paying off in a big way. Remediation and pollution control activities now neutralize almost all the acid mine drainage and control 95 percent of the copper, cadmium, and zinc that used to flow out of Iron Mountain into nearby streams and then into the Sacramento River. Furthermore, EPA and the State of California secured funding from one of the site’s previous owners in one of the largest settlements with a single private party in Superfund history.
    [Show full text]
  • Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Fish Health and Ecology: a Review
    Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Fish Health and Ecology: A Review For: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Anchorage Fish and Wildlife Field Office, Anchorage, Alaska, 99501 Prepared by: Reclamation Research Group, LLC, Bozeman, Montana June 2008 Suggested Citation: Jennings, S.R., Neuman, D.R. and Blicker, P.S. (2008). “Acid Mine Drainage and Effects on Fish Health and Ecology: A Review”. Reclamation Research Group Publication, Bozeman, MT. ii Table of Contents Purpose ................................................................................................................................ 1 Acid Mine Drainage Overview ........................................................................................... 1 Chemistry of Acid Rock Drainage .................................................................................. 1 Acid Mine Drainage ........................................................................................................ 3 Effect of Acid Mine Drainage on Aquatic Resources ........................................................ 5 Major Environmental Incidents Caused by Acid Mine Drainage ....................................... 7 Prediction of Acid Mine Drainage ...................................................................................... 7 Assessment of Acid Rock Drainage and Metals Release ................................................. 11 Water Quality and Acid Mine Drainage: Pre-mine Predictions and Post-mine Comparisons ....................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • 6Th 5-Year Review for Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site, W/Appendices
    SEMS-RM DOCID # 100010569 SIXTH FIVE-YEAR REVIEW REPORT FOR IRON MOUNTAIN MINE SUPERFUND SITE SHASTA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA PREPARED BY United States Army Corps of Engineers, Seattle District FOR U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IX Ap~poved by: /2. Date ( _ tJa,r-1-w, '] -z_,,1 II ¥ Da Barton Assistant Director, Superfund Division California Site Cleanup and Enforcement Branch U.S. EPA, Region 9 [This page is intentionally left blank.] Executive Summary This is the sixth Five-Year Review (FYR) for the Iron Mountain Mine (IMM) Superfund Site (Site), located near Redding, California. The purpose of this FYR is to review information to determine if the interim remedies are, and will continue to be, protective of human health and the environment. The Iron Mountain Mine was mined from the 1860’s through 1963 for copper, gold, pyrite, silver, and zinc. Operations included open pit mining, adits and stoping inside Iron Mountain, milling, ore transportation via railroad and tramway, a cyanide leaching plant, cementation plants, ore roasting areas, and a smelter. Exposure of the mine workings, waste rock piles, and the open pit mine to oxygen and water have produced acid mine drainage (AMD) management issues. Numerous historical fish kills in the Sacramento River were attributed to AMD from the Main Mine Area. The Site was added to the National Priorities List in September 1983. The interim remedies for the Site consist of a combination of source control, AMD collection and treatment, and water management components, including clean water diversions and coordinated releases of contaminated surface water from Spring Creek Debris Dam (SCDD) into dilution flows from Shasta Dam.
    [Show full text]
  • Oxide-Rich Scale in a Pipeline Carrying Acid Mine Drainage at Iron
    Characterization and Remediation of Iron(III) Oxide‐rich Scale in a Pipeline Carrying Acid Mine Drainage at Iron Mountain Mine, California, USA Kate M. Campbell 1, Charles N. Alpers 2, D. Kirk Nordstrom3, Alex E. Blum4, and Amy Williams5 1U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado, USA, [email protected] 2U.S. Geological Survey, Sacramento, California, USA, [email protected] 3U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado, USA, [email protected] 4U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, Colorado, USA, [email protected] 5University of California, Davis, California, USA, [email protected] Abstract A 3.4 km pipeline carrying acid mine drainage to a treatment plant at the Iron Mountain Mine Superfund Site (California, USA) develops substantial scaling, resulting in occasional spillage and requiring periodic, costly clean‐out. Samples of scale and water were collected from four points along the pipeline and water was collected from the mine portal influent. Mineralogy of the scale samples consisted of primarily hydrous ferric oxides including schwertmannite and goethite based on powder X‐ray diffraction, wet chemical extractions, and scanning electron microscopy. Laboratory batch experiments with fresh, unfiltered water from the site showed that the scale was formed by microbial Fe(II) oxidation and precipitation of Fe(III) phases. A remediation strategy of lowering the pH of the influent water from 2.7 to 2.0‐2.3 was tested using a geochemical model and laboratory batch experiments. Decreasing the pH did not substantially retard the rate of Fe(II) oxidation, but prevented precipitation of Fe(III) phases, suggesting that mixing the pipeline water with low pH water (pH ~1) from the Richmond mine portal may prevent scale formation.
    [Show full text]
  • Trinity River Division Project History
    Trinity Division Central Valley Project Eric A. Stene Bureau of Reclamation 1996 Table of Contents Trinity River Division..........................................................2 Project Location.........................................................2 Historic Setting .........................................................2 Project Authorization.....................................................2 Construction History .....................................................3 Division Operation.................................................3 Trinity Dam......................................................4 Clear Creek Tunnel ................................................6 Clair A. Hill Whiskeytown Dam ......................................7 Spring Creek Power Conduit .........................................9 Lewiston Dam ....................................................9 Spring Creek Debris Dam ..........................................10 Cow Creek and Clear Creek Units....................................10 Post-Construction History................................................11 Buckhorn Dam ...................................................11 Settlement of the Project .................................................13 Uses of Project Water ...................................................13 Conclusion............................................................14 Table 1. Trinity River Division Powerplants and Capacities. ...........................15 Table 2. 1990 Crops and Total Value on the Trinity River Division.
    [Show full text]
  • Technical Document: Acid Mine Drainage Prediction
    EPA 530-R-94-036 NTIS PB94-201829 TECHNICAL DOCUMENT ACID MINE DRAINAGE PREDICTION December 1994 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Office of Solid Waste Special Waste Branch 401 M Street, SW Washington, DC 20460 Acid Mine Drainage Prediction DISCLAIMER AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document was prepared by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The mention of company or product names in this document is not to be considered an endorsement by the U.S. Government or by the EPA. This technical document consists of a brief review of acid forming processes at mine sites, followed by a summary of the current methods used to predict acid formation, selected state regulatory requirements, and case histories. This report was distributed for review to the U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Mines and Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service, the Interstate Mining Compact Commission, the American Mining Congress, the Mineral Policy Center, representatives of state agencies, and public interest groups. EPA is grateful to all individuals who took the time to review this technical document. The use of the terms "extraction," "beneficiation," and "mineral processing" in this document is not intended to classify any waste stream for the purposes of regulatory interpretation or application. Rather, these terms are used in the context of common industry terminology. Acid Mine Drainage Prediction TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................ 1 1.1 Oxidation of Metal Sulfides ..................................................... 4 1.2 Source of Acid and Contributing Factors ........................................... 5 2. ACID GENERATION PREDICTION ................................................. 9 2.1 Sampling .................................................................... 11 2.2 Static Tests .................................................................
    [Show full text]