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Cleaning Up a Century of Hardrock Mining |  |
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Lands in the Boulder and Upper Tenmile Creek Watersheds in Montana have been mined since the nineteenth century. Principal metals extracted from this area included gold, silver, lead and zinc. Between 1902 and 1958, minerals extracted just in the Basin-Cataract Creek Mining District in the Boulder Watershed had an estimated value of $11 million. The mining legacy, however, is the contamination and degradation of the watersheds’ water resources. Metal-mining wastes and mill tailing deposits negatively impact water quality, riparian vegetation, human health and the overall environment. Streams are affected by the direct discharge of acid drainage from adits, seepage from tailings pipes and erosion of tailings. Basin and Upper Tenmile Creek Mining AreasEfforts at mine cleanup in Montana are almost always initiated, organized and led by local stakeholders. Assistance from federal and state agencies supports the actions of the watershed residents. For example, cooperation was key to the success of clean-ups in the Upper Tenmile Creek Mining Area, located in the Rimini Mining District, which contains more than 20 abandoned mine sites. EPA and US Forest Service removed almost 40,000 cubic yards of mine waste from this Lewis and Clark County watershed in 1999, and watershed residents implemented streambank stabilization and fishery enhancement projects. In 1998 and 1999, locals planted nearly 5,000 indigenous riparian plants, trees and shrubs. Similarly, in the Basin Mining Area of the Boulder River Watershed, community members are working with the EPA, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Montana Department of Environmental Quality to conduct a feasibility study and preliminary mining waste removal actions. In 1999, EPA added the Basin and Upper Tenmile Creek Mining Areas to its Superfund National Priorities List. Restoration of High Ore Creek
A glimpse of the massive restoration effort underway in the Boulder River Mining Area can be seen at High Ore Creek in Jefferson County, an area with 26 abandoned or inactive mine sites. Acid mine drainage from the Comet Mine has distributed 32,000 cubic yards of streamside tailings and 5,800 cubic yards of waste rock throughout the 3.7-mile High Ore Creek floodplain. In 1999, project partners cleared a six-acre repository, improved access roads and backfilled the floodplain with coversoil. The partners also constructed streambed including steps, pools and grade control structures and excavated, loaded and hauled streamside mine wastes. Moreover, they installed stream protection structures, silt fencing, willow fascines, bank stabilization fabric and erosion control mat. Finally, they reconstructed almost 3,500 linear feet of High Ore Creek and seeded and mulched stabilized streambanks. The state constructed two toxic sediment settling ponds and put about 300,000 yards of mine tailings back into the original mine site. Bureau of Land Management relocated an additional 150,000 yards of material. The next phase will cover and reseed the site. More construction and restoration activities are planned to continue the amazing progress of 1999’s projects.
http://water.usgs.gov/owq/cleanwater/success/boulder.html |
Environmental degradation in the
Boulder River Mining Area has
drawn together an extensive partnership
in which local communities
and more than 20 landowners are
working with numerous federal
agencies. Bureau of Land
Management has already worked
with the project partners to clean
up seven sites. Thermal modification,
habitat alterations, toxics,
metals, siltation, suspended solids
and turbidity all affect this region.