Animas River, Colorado - HUGE Environmental Disaster!!!

[jcazgoldchaser]

If you frequent the waters of the Animas, an EPA accident has released 1 million gallons of mining waste into the waterway.
Animas River fouled by 1 million gallons of contaminated mine water - The Denver Post

The La Plata County Sheriff's Office has closed the river from the San Juan County line – including Durango – to New Mexico. Authorities say they will re-evaluate the closure once the EPA tests are confirmed.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/us/wastewater-spill-in-colorado-turns-a-river-yellow.html?_r=0
The EPA spilled 1 million gallons of waste water - Business Insider

Be safe out there!!

 

[Duckwalk]

Maybe it's time the EPA higher some professional miners as independent contractors to see how things are actually done and what kind of effect small scale and even large scale mining has (or doesn't even come close to having) on the environment. You win some ya lose some.... Then you do what the EPA did and make a royal mess....

 

[Clay Diggins]

You are right IMPLDN. The limestone beds were working and the rivers were improving and in the best shape they had ever been. Then the BLM, EPA and the Colorado Water Board got into the act.

Lawsuits tied the whole mess up for several years. Sunnyside mines was willing to maintain the beds on their own but the BLM wanted the land back for grazing, the Water Board wanted to blame the water from the mine even though it was better pH and cleaner than the water in the creek and the EPA wanted to prove how great it would be to let the water back up into the mountain. Eventually the decision was to made to plug the tunnel. Sunnyside mines was happy to walk away from the maintenance bills on the limestone bed even though they thought the whole plan was stoopid.

The mines are still owned by Sunnyside and others. There have been several attempts to reopen them as the price of gold is more than three times what it was when the mines closed in 1991. No one has been successful because of the flooding from the plugged tunnels. The Gold King is scheduled for development but after this latest stunt by the EPA I'm guessing the cost of refitting the mine just went up big time.

The Governor of Colorado is a Geologist. The locals have resisted a Superfund listing because they would like the mines to reopen. The Governor has resisted because it's bad news for a depressed area of his State that is depending on tourism for the money to buy their moldy cheese sandwiches. The Governor would have to request the Superfund listing, the EPA can't do that on their own. There is no single point that could be defined as a "Site" and just getting it on the list is no guarantee of funds. It's more of a Danger! sign to potential local investors than it would be a help to the area.

Sadly the Governor, who is a politician by trade and only a Geologist by training, has made noises like he would consider going along with new EPA "experiments".

Colorado's governor thinks a mine spill accidentally triggered by an EPA crew will move the state and federal government to more aggressively tackle the "legacy of pollution" left by mining in the West.

Gov. John Hickenlooper said Tuesday that much of the wastewater has been plugged up, but the state and the Environmental Protection Agency need to speed up work to identify the most dangerous areas and clean them up.

The former geologist says that if there's a "silver lining" to the disaster, it will be a new relationship between the state and the EPA to solve the problem.

In the meantime Utah is struggling with this new wave of "pollution".

Utah officials say the progress of the wastewater that was accidentally released by an EPA crew is hard to track because it's been diluted and is no longer the distinct yellow color seen closer to the Colorado spill site. Calculations indicate the pollution has reached Utah, but tests haven't confirmed it because the water's chemistry is normal.

Heavy Pans

 

[bobw53]

Mr. Diggins, or anybody else... I've read a ton of stuff on this and I'm totally confused...

Is what I think is being said correct?

First we have a high mountain caldera that is now draining through mine tunnels?

The area is one of the highest mineralized areas in the country... So minerals are going to get into the stream no matter what
(unless some miners take them all away).

Plug the tunnels that the water is draining out of, and now the huge maze of tunnels, adits, stopes, shafts etc... become a giant reservoir,
in stead of a path of least resistance.

There are sulfides in the hard rock of the mines... Water and sulfides, like pyrite, create sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid (low PH) now in some chemical
way that I don't remember from chemistry class, grabs onto the heavy metals like lead, and cadmium and copper... The longer that water sits there,
the worse it gets... To a saturation point I would assume...

So if the water was just allowed to drain on through the mine tunnels, the tunnels wouldn't be saturated(full of water), the water would only have minimal chance to react with
the sulfides to create sulfuric acid and then suck up the heavy metals.

So am I somewhat close on understanding this? Or did I totally miss something... I'm not even talking about the fish in the river, just the tunnels, the plugs and the mines.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Sort of true Bob. There was a theory that a full tunnel wouldn't react much with the water due to lack of oxygen. Not sure if that's been proven in the field or not in this case.

 

[Clay Diggins]

Mr. Diggins, or anybody else... I've read a ton of stuff on this and I'm totally confused...

Is what I think is being said correct?

First we have a high mountain caldera that is now draining through mine tunnels?

The area is one of the highest mineralized areas in the country... So minerals are going to get into the stream no matter what
(unless some miners take them all away).

Plug the tunnels that the water is draining out of, and now the huge maze of tunnels, adits, stopes, shafts etc... become a giant reservoir,
in stead of a path of least resistance.

There are sulfides in the hard rock of the mines... Water and sulfides, like pyrite, create sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid (low PH) now in some chemical
way that I don't remember from chemistry class, grabs onto the heavy metals like lead, and cadmium and copper... The longer that water sits there,
the worse it gets... To a saturation point I would assume...

So if the water was just allowed to drain on through the mine tunnels, the tunnels wouldn't be saturated(full of water), the water would only have minimal chance to react with
the sulfides to create sulfuric acid and then suck up the heavy metals.

So am I somewhat close on understanding this? Or did I totally miss something... I'm not even talking about the fish in the river, just the tunnels, the plugs and the mines.

Bingo! Give the man a kewpie doll.

Heavy Pans

 

[Nitric]

Sort of true Bob. There was a theory that a full tunnel wouldn't react much with the water due to lack of oxygen. Not sure if that's been proven in the field or not in this case.

Thanks Kevin! I was wondering the same thing about the water and touching new areas it normally wouldn't, making it a stronger "brew"! Now, at least I know there is a theory to it. I have something new to try to understand or look up! lol Even if it's proven or not. It would be interesting to see the reasoning or thought behind it!

 

[Nitric]

Another question.....These limestone beds that are mentioned as a type of filter. I was trying to see what that was too.I can only guess and think I have an idea but wasn't sure. Is this just a channel of crushed limestone the water runs through as a filter? I've seen similar type dikes or pools in at the natural gas compressor and storage stations and the only thing I can relate it to. I tried looking this up online and all I could find were other topics calling limestone deposits limestone beds. So, I was getting frustrated and thought I would ask here!

 

[Clay Diggins]

Sort of true Bob. There was a theory that a full tunnel wouldn't react much with the water due to lack of oxygen. Not sure if that's been proven in the field or not in this case.

The oxygen in the workings had caused oxidation of the sulfides long before the water was introduced to the formerly dry minerals. Once the water flood was allowed to saturate the already oxidized sulfides it created an acid soup that could then provide the chemical energy to allow the stable metals to interact with less stable metals to create a soluble heavy metal soup.

The whole reaction can be reversed by changing the pH to allow the heavy metals to fall out of the solution. Sunnyside was using a very large artificial limestone bed to adjust the pH on the relatively mild acid drainage from the American tunnel.

The EPA came up with their own method for the much more reactive high acid heavy metal soup created by their flooding plan.



Seriously folks, this is an actual picture from their plan report - they keep an EPA employee sitting on a ice cooler under an easy up scooping lye into the water draining from the mine they flooded! Pretty high tech eh?

This is what comes from mine remediation when the bosses have absolutely no experience or education in mining. A guy with a hand scoop trying to get lye to dissolve in inch deep running water.

This isn't going to get resolved with all the media hysteria. I'm thinking this is going to get even stoopider. But hey, maybe two locals will get to sit around with a scoop all day. Great government pay and a really cool hardhat and safety vest. That should really help out the local economy and the EPA can honestly tell Congress they have "redoubled" their efforts!

Heavy Pans

 

[Clay Diggins]

Another question.....These limestone beds that are mentioned as a type of filter. I was trying to see what that was too.I can only guess and think I have an idea but wasn't sure. Is this just a channel of crushed limestone the water runs through as a filter? I've seen similar type dikes or pools in at the natural gas compressor and storage stations and the only thing I can relate it to. I tried looking this up online and all I could find were other topics calling limestone deposits limestone beds. So, I was getting frustrated and thought I would ask here!

You've got the right idea Nitric. Size really helps with these beds - particularly when you have a large volume of water to treat.

Here's some folks back east with a little more involved solution on a much smaller scale. The explanation of how and why the limestone works so well might help readers here understand how the limestone bed and the downstream rivers clean themselves of these metal loads.

Once you understand the chemistry you will see why there is a much weaker pH and metals load downstream in the Animas and essentially none in Navajo Land or Utah.

Chemistry is your friend. Different types of rock can quite effectively change the pH and cause metals to go into solution or drop back out of solution.

Heavy Pans

 

[Nitric]

You've got the right idea Nitric. Size really helps with these beds - particularly when you have a large volume of water to treat.

Here's some folks back east with a little more involved solution on a much smaller scale. The explanation of how and why the limestone works so well might help readers here understand how the limestone bed and the downstream rivers clean themselves of these metal loads.

Once you understand the chemistry you will see why there is a much weaker pH and metals load downstream in the Animas and essentially none in Navajo Land or Utah.

Chemistry is your friend. Different types of rock can quite effectively change the pH and cause metals to go into solution or drop back out of solution.

Heavy Pans

Thank you!!! Yes that is similar to what I've seen, helped build, and when I first started sent in underneath all the pipes with a shovel to clean out the limestone that couldn't be reached with a machine. Then new was poured in after all repairs were done, They would get brine water,oil,and whatever else leaking from the natural gas pipes. I never knew the reason limestone was used, I knew it was to collect stuff out of the water and to contain it from ending up on the ground, but didn't know how or why. I've also seen ditches of it in different places where it was red. I just thought they threw limestone down for erosion, now I'll bet it has a dual purpose. It's Cool when you can start connecting dots with things you've seen and start to understand why!

Thanks again for the link!

 

[GoldpannerDave]

Another question.....These limestone beds that are mentioned as a type of filter. I was trying to see what that was too.I can only guess and think I have an idea but wasn't sure. Is this just a channel of crushed limestone the water runs through as a filter? I've seen similar type dikes or pools in at the natural gas compressor and storage stations and the only thing I can relate it to. I tried looking this up online and all I could find were other topics calling limestone deposits limestone beds. So, I was getting frustrated and thought I would ask here!

Limestone reacts with acid to neutralize it. So, let the acidic mine water go through crushed limestone making the pH less hazardous and moves it towards pH of 7 (neutral).

 

[GoldpannerDave]

You've got the right idea Nitric. Size really helps with these beds - particularly when you have a large volume of water to treat.

Here's some folks back east with a little more involved solution on a much smaller scale. The explanation of how and why the limestone works so well might help readers here understand how the limestone bed and the downstream rivers clean themselves of these metal loads.

Once you understand the chemistry you will see why there is a much weaker pH and metals load downstream in the Animas and essentially none in Navajo Land or Utah.

Chemistry is your friend. Different types of rock can quite effectively change the pH and cause metals to go into solution or drop back out of solution.

Heavy Pans

I keep telling my cadets that; "Chemistry is your friend." They don't all buy it because they don't understand the chemistry and don't want to put in the time required to do so.

Thanks, Clay for your very informative posts on this subject. Some of them I have forwarded to friends on the chem faculty. They did not know all the background information which clearly makes the EPA look like dunces. I talked today in class about the situation, using information and links you have provided. Again, Thank you!!

 

[winners58]

2005 just after they plugged the hole you can still see the leach ponds.
the second photo is from Aug 2011 no ponds red going right down into the creek.
the third photo is still 2011 below where the treatment ponds used to be.
.

.

.

 

[nh.nugget]

Kinda' sounds like they use the Lime stone as a giant water conditioner like I have in my house.

 

[2cmorau]

like the sierra fund makin claims that mercury is a problem in our waterway, but conveniently leave out SELENIUM from all there biased reports. sand and charcoal do wonders for filtering water, mother nature will cure this orange plumetoo, i see this as a blessing for suction dredge miners, EPA expert dummies bring in finderlings to test and results are healty fishys, but that was very evident from the beginning of this EPA plume, and my guess if not Selenium it will be another Element to cure the problem
Gina McCarthy should resign or be fired

Scientists find another way to reduce mercury in wetlands,

Scientists find a way to reduce mercury in wetlands | The Sacramento Bee

? ? ? And Arsenic ... And lead... And gods knows what else.

The impact of this will be enormous...
Bigger than they are letting on".

Lead levels alone are thousands of times the "safe" limits.
Arsenic levels are off the charts as well.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Wow... I turn my back on you guys and next thing I know there's several pages of posts to catch up on in this thread.

I'm glad that many of you are understanding what Clay is talking about on the chemistry of the water that was released. Knowing what is actually going on is important and relying on the media for facts is not the wisest of choices. None of the writers are experts in this field and they're paid to write copy that is either going to A: Raise the sales of the paper or B: raise the ratings for their network if on T.V. Either way, you're not getting the facts from the media.

The picture that Clay posted of the guy on the cooler scooping Lye into the outflow from the mine made me wonder one thing. How much were the people of this country paying for such a low tech and ineffectual method of treating the water? That the stream was actually IMPROVING before the EPA took over doesn't surprise me at all. The treatment was being run by people that knew what they were doing. (AKA MINERS!!!) Unlike the EPA yahoos that decided to run their little experiment when they had no knowledge of the science they were dealing with. This should show the country that the EPA should not be allowed to do more than lab testing and should leave actual field work to those that know what the L they're doing.

 

[2cmorau]

The situation seems much less dire now, according to recent tests of the river. Local drinking water is safe, but the intake valves from the river have been shut off. The state Parks and Wildlife Department reports no dead fish have been spotted along the water. Larry Wolk, Colorado’s top health official, told CNN Tuesday that early tests show that the water near Durango, the Colorado city where the spill originated, “doesn’t appear” to pose a health risk, but didn’t specify to whom—humans, wildlife, local ecosystems, or all three

http://www.theatlantic.com/national...mage-to-animas-river/401051/?UTM_SOURCE=yahoo

 

[M.E.G.]

Did The EPA Intentionally Poison Animas River To Secure SuperFund Money?
Did The EPA Intentionally Poison Animas River To Secure SuperFund Money? | Zero Hedge

 

[GoldpannerDave]

I was going to link that document, but could only find a scanned copy that was hard to read. Thanks!

 

[fowledup]

If you guys in Colorado had The Sierra Fund this wouldn't be an issue!