PRIORITIZATION OF ABANDONED MINES

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PRIORITIZATION OF ABANDONED MINES
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Animas River Watershed
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Upper Animas - Silverton
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Animas River Stakeholders Group

• Identify sources of environmental problems
  
  
• Determine relative contributions of metals from
  these sources
• Improve water quality where and when possible

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Community - Based Decisionmaking
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Upper Animas
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Land Ownership
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Water Quality(sufficient quality to support uses)

• SAFE DRINKING WATER ACT CLEAN WATER ACT
• Site Specific Standards
• Use Attainability Analyses
• Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDLs)

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Sediment and Colloidal Sampling

• Pre- to post- mining bed sediments arsenic
  2X-6X cadmium 4X-10X lead 2X-10X
  zinc 2X-15X
• Metals sorbing to Fe colloids

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Church,et al (1997)
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Toxicity Tests

• 48 and 96-hr lethality on daphnids, minnows, and
  trout
• Stream sediment 10-day tests similar results to
  water phase

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Upper Animas
Cement Creek
Upper Animas
Mineral Creek
Silverton
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Animas - Cement Creek
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Cement Creek
North Fork
Prospect Gulch
Sunnyside/American Tunnel
Minnesota Gulch
Porcupine Gulch
Topeka Gulch
SILVERTON
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Tracer StudiesB.A. Kimball USGS

• Tracers were injected into Cement Creek during
  low flow in September 1996
• Discharge was measured by injecting tracers at
  constant rates and measuring the dilution
• Eight principal sources of metals loading to the
  mainstem were identified

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Cement Metals Loads -
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Cement Creek
North Fork
Prospect Gulch
Sunnyside/American Tunnel
Minnesota Gulch
Porcupine Gulch
High Zn
High Cu
Topeka Gulch
SILVERTON
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Ross Basin - North Fork Cement Creek Loading
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Cu Zn
Grand Mogul
Cu Zn
Mogul
Queen Ann
Cu Zn
Cu Zn
Red Bonita
High Metal Load Med. High Medium
Lower
Upper Cement Creek Drainage
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Mogul Adit
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Stakeholders Criteria

• Environmental Impact
• Dissolved Zn and Cu
• Dissolved Fe
• Existing or potential aquatic life
• Technical Feasibility of remediation
• Cost effectiveness
• Treatability/feasibility
• Cultural and Historic preservation

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Dissolved Zinc or Copper
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Dissolved Iron
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Existing or Potential Aquatic Life
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Water Quality at Point of Compliance
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Treatability Feasiblity
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Technical Feasibility
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Accessibility
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Cultural and Historic Preservation
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Ranking of environmental impact
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Decision-making

• I wish you all the best of luck in this effort
• Thanks to the ARSG

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