In the Spotlight
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Protecting the Environment |
Las Vegas Sun: EDITORIAL [3/27/07]
Legislation to add mining inspectors a good start, but more should still be done |
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Las Vegas Sun: EDITORIAL [2/16/07]
Study raises questions about state allowing mining companies to monitor themselves
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Nevada's gold diggers mucking up the air |
Las Vegas Sun [2/13/07]
UNR study finds high levels of airborne mercury near mines
By Lisa Mascaro
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Strong reasons to regulate emissions |
Reno Gazette-Journal: EDITORIAL [1/3/07]
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Radioactive Waste |
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Abandoned copper mine near Yerington, NV, where testing has revealed contaminated groundwater and residential wells. Onsite soil radiation levels are 200 times background levels. | Photo Credit: GBMW Radioactivity and the Yerington Mine
Yerington, 40 miles southeast of Reno in the picturesque Mason Valley, Nevada, is a magnet for families relocating from California.
These days, the town is also a magnet for controversy.
In late 2003, GBMW leaked the news that the state of Nevada neglected to act on a documented 20-year history of uranium contamination at this abandoned copper mine, located literally on the edge of town. Also during recent years, informal surveys show that aberrant cases of cancer and other ailments have been growing in the community.
In 2004, after months of pressure from GBMW and local activists, the state ceded authority of the cleanup to EPA, paving the way for Superfund protection. The move signals recognition from state leadership that Nevada's mine monitoring and cleanup efforts are sorely in need of reform.
GBMW continues to support the community's call for air monitoring and radioactivity surveying. Federal agencies are moving toward a formal health study. Meanwhile, the Yerington Community Action Group collects informal health surveys, as evidence builds that heavy metal and radioactivity from the mine could be linked to serious health problems for residents and workers.
History
The Anaconda mine is an abandoned copper mine covering more than 3,400 acres in Yerington, Nevada, where acid run-off and waste rock containing low levels of uranium, thorium, and other exposed metals were disposed in unlined ponds. Now the mine consists of tailings piles, mill buildings, waste rock, and evaporation ponds. From 1918 through 1978, the Yerington site was a low-grade copper mine and milling operation that generated approximately 360 million tons of ore and debris. The mining company also considered producing uranium from the copper mining process.
As early as the late 1970s and early 1980s, NDEP began its mediation efforts on the site. Preliminary studies found tailing streams contained arsenic, mercury, lead, copper, zinc and chromium. Contamination had also leached into the groundwater. Atlantic Richfield Company (ARC) purchased the mine in 1977 and thus was directed by NDEP to install "pump-back" wells at the northern end of the site to control the contaminated groundwater. These wells pump water from the contaminated plume into three lined evaporation ponds on site and attempt to prevent water from reaching the Walker River via the Wabuska Drain.
In 1988, the Yerington Mine was sold to Arimetco, Inc. Arimetco built five lined leach pads where acid and other solutions were used to extract copper from copper oxide ore and tailings. In 1997 Arimetco filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy, yet continued copper recovery operations until late 1999, abandoning the site in January 2000.
ARC remains the primary responsible party (PRP) for investigation of the site. In addition, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) continues to manage the public lands portion of the site.
Amid protests, State of Nevada allows EPA to lead cleanup
In a move hailed by local residents, the state of Nevada late last year officially requested the EPA take on leadership of the Anaconda/Yerington mine cleanup. The state's announcement comes one year after Great Basin Mine Watch released information that the state of Nevada had records dating back 20 years of uranium contamination at the abandoned copper mine. Great Basin Mine Watch commends the governor for allowing EPA authority.
The state of Nevada's decision follows accusations from a whistleblower that BLM as well as Nevada Department of Environmental Protection (NDEP) failed Yerington residents and site workers. Late last year, the project manager for the Yerington mine cleanup filed a legal complaint, asserting the BLM wrongfully dismissed him after he advocated for stringent cleanup at the Anaconda Mine. (Read the High Country News Article)
Cleanup efforts to date
Air monitoring stations have been installed on site (two on the west side of the mine, three along the north boundary, and one on the east side) and radioactive signage posted around the mine's perimeter. Signs were placed along state road 95A after residents notified BLM officials that such signage was necessary along the most trafficked area of the mine.
According to the EPA, existing data is insufficient to gauge the risk, if any, posed by drinking the water. Groundwater monitoring wells will be installed between the mine and residences to the north, in hopes to determine where contamination is moving. EPA plans to install these monitoring wells by the middle of 2005, determining where the uranium is coming from by the end of the year.
At this time, EPA is not pursuing placing the mine on the National Priorities List for Superfund. Instead it is working under Section 106 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA/ Superfund). This designation allows EPA to order responsible parties to conduct work at the site. EPA retains the option to list the site under Superfund, an even higher enforcement standard.
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Act Now!
Stop Barrick Gold mining company
from Destruction of the Sacred Mt. Tenabo (Nevada)
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In Reality, Love Earth Mines Do Not Glitter
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Communities
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