Document Ed8x6KgnxNZkj47dYkO76YM7V

My initial Involvement In my initial activist involvement I became involved with the rising water in the Travonia and Emma Mines in Butte known as the West Camp System. In 1984, water in these mines began to rise as a result of the Berkeley Pit and Butte Mine Flooding rising water that was initiated when the underground mine pumps were shut off a the Kelley Mine on April 22,1982. W ater rose to the point where the contaminated water became a danger of discharging to Silver Bow Creek and flooding of Basements in the Central Butte Area as happened in 1964 when these mines were shut off by the Anaconda Company from the other active mine workings in Butte. Throughout this process in dealing with the rising mine water and trying to address the problem with a responsible solution, the community and its leaders were informed {lied to} by Environmental Agency Representatives {John Wardell and Russ Forba} that they had "on the shelf technology " to adequately address the issue if and when a problem arose. As the contaminated water rose to the point where discharge to Silver Bow Creek was inevitable there was in fact no "on shelf technology" available as promised by the agencies to address the issue. I will address this issue in further detail in this report. To address this issue, I need to step back in time and into the history o f Butte Mining to explain my initial involvement: In 1959 a nine month long Butte Miners Strike took place in Butte by the various Butte Unions against the Anaconda Company. Upon the settlement of the strike, the Anaconda Company made the decision to no longer mine at the Travonia and Emma Mines in Butte. These two mines were bulk headed {mine tunnels filled with concrete} to prevent them from being connected to the other active mines. Water was no longer pumped from these two mines and they were allowed to flood and fill with contaminated mine water. W ater began to rise in these two mines to the point where in 1964 water began to discharge from the mines and began to flood basements in the area in Butte known as the Central Butte Area. The area is located just above Front Street and north to Mercury Street where the uptown Pork Chop Johns is located. This is the point in time that established that there are two basic mining areas in Butte known as the East Camp and West Camp Mine Workings. The West Camp consists of the Emma and Travonia Mines and the East Camp is all of the other mines and the Berkeley Pit. Joe Roberts a local Butte businessperson, and owner of Robert's Rocky Mountain Equipment, located in the area, also relayed to me a story of a Mack Truck, he was demonstrating to a potential buyer, breaking through the surface. A crane was used to raise the truck and he could see a stream of copper water with mine timbers flowing west toward Silver Bow Creek To alleviate the contaminated water from discharging into the alluvium in the area and to stop the flooding of basements a relief well known as Well 21 was drilled to lower the water table in the area. W ater flowed from this well as an artesian well and water dropped in the Travonia and Emma Mines over 400+feet. The water remained at that level until 1983. Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 10 ED 002061 00114167-00001 It is believed the Bulkheads in the Travonia Mine were in fact leaking and the water was actually being pumped from the Kelley Mine in the East Camp System and thus the water in the West Camp system no longer rose. W ater remained at this level until January 1983 when water in the Berkeley Pit rose to a level where water reached the elevation where the Bulkhead were located in the Travonia Mine and once again water began to rise in the W est Camp System. I would estim ate using Bureau of Mines data that the bulkheads were located at the 5350' United States Geological Elevation in the Travonia Mine. In documentation provided to me by the Montana Bureau of Mines, which I have included in this report, water rose to within a few feet of reaching the Silver Bow Creek Alluvium in the area. Camp Dresser McKee also documented the potential discharge of West Camp Mine Water Camp Dresser McKee an Environmental Protection Agency contractor also conducted research on the West Camp system. This is how they described the seriousness of the situation. A vailab le data in d ica te that diecharg o f contaminated nine water tram the Seste ay relea se unnaturally high concentrations o f m e t a ls i n t o th e a l l u v i a l a q u i f e r and i n t o S i l v e r Bov C reek. Ground v o t e r ZroS^firg^eTFTaSyAuylerguund vork iogs w i l l e ith e r d isch arge to the ground ^ s u r f a c e and t l o v to the creak or v i l l d is c h a r g e to a l l u v i a , and e v e n t u a l l y p. d i s ^ h a r j ``TgrTKg'''cfe'e1C The q u a l i t y o i t h e d i r e c t d i s c h a r g e froas t h e min ^ workings i s not d e f in it iv e ly know a t th is ti e but i s expected to be in te r m e d ia te betvaen Travona S h a ft wat e r q u a li t y and the q u a lity v a lu e s found a t d eep er l e v e l s in the K e lle y S h a ft (T a b les 1-2 and 1 - 3 } . Even i f the disch arge were to e x h ib it r e la t iv e ly good q u a lity , the p o te n tia l s t i l l e x i s t s fo r enhanced le a ch in g o f old m ining and m ill t a i l i n g s along the creek a s a llu v ia l water le v e l s r i s e and t a i lin g s are resatu rated . R estsiting ground water enriched in tra c e m eta ls would ev e n tu a lly d isch arge to the creek .,, ^ -- --------- -- To address the issue of the rising Travonia and Emma Mine water, I contacted Don Peoples the Butte Silver Bow Chief Executive. With his leadership and assistance we made this information available to the community and the State through the Butte media. Working with Montana Governor Ted Schwinden and United states Senator Conrad Burns and with the assistance of the Montana Bureau of Mines, we were able to begin a process of pumping water from the Travonia Mine and treating it at the Butte Metro Sewer Treatment Plant. Pumping began on December 18, 1987. As a result of the pumping, water has remained below the Critical Water Level {5335'} in the area and thus prevented the flow of groundwater from discharging to Silver bow Creek or into the alluvium and prevented the flooding of basements in the Central Butte Area as occurred in 1959. The most important point that needs to be made concerning the West Camp Mine Water issue was thefact that the Environmental Protection Agency continually informed the community that they were on top o f things and we had nothing to worry about because they had "technology on the s h e l f to handle the problem. The reality was they did not! If it were not for Sierra Club v. EPA 18cv3472 NDCA Tier 10 ED 002061 00114167-00002 the Community of Butte and Chief Executive Don Peoples making the decision to allow the water to be piped and treated at the Butte Metro Plant, the water in all probability would have discharged to Silver Bow Creek. Montana Standard Article indicating technology not "on the Shelf" as assured by the Environmental Protection Agency to the leaders and residents of Butte. Mine pumping test to be closely monitored Rv jKrte Williams. Stawiard Staff Writer A short " pre-test" may fm doss next weak on efforts to pump nunc wafer from the Travana shafts Thief Executive Dos Peebles told the council of commimaoners Wednes- day sight The test, d o * for the Environ- mental Protects Agency by the Montaoa Boreas of Mines and fi-eology, would be "closely mosi- Sored'' to w sare that ary buildup of hazardous substances would he im mediately found and the testa stepped, Peoples said, Last week* the pomp testing at the Traversa was halted after Batfa- Silver Bow Public Works employees end residents noticed a leel smell; ft was learned hydrogen salfide gas nad btali up in a &ecr line which was being used te funnel the under ground water to Metro Sewer's plant for treatm ent "We immediately Mormed EPA that the testing would be shat down,'' Peeples a id , la an earlier interview, Hep, Prite Daily said be was bothered by the fact that the county, and not EPA, was the one to notice the problem. Peoples i d Wednesday the high est 3Kcatratien found was * parte per m i l l ippmt, well below the b&mrdous level of ppm, However, to ho safe; he said be will only consent to the pre-test If if will be stopped if hydrogen sulfide levels reach 4 ppm. ' if that work is done next week, the Travoaa water wottfd 1. roafed through a larger pipe than was used mitislly. Officials said they- believe at least part of the hydrogen ssdiide buildup was caused by a 90-degree corner 1 the sewer line. If that proves safe, F-PA would probably ask for a longer testing period. However, Peoples tuld the council he wants the county to he able to say whether more testing would be dooe, EPA has wanted to do the wark ter some time, to fsad out the qual ity of the water in the West Butte mines and te find out how fast the water table recharges, Hr concern is that the water Is only a fern' months from reaching the point where si weald flow Into Sdt'er Bsw Cheek and, presumably, pollute if. There is also worry she water may seep Into home basements EPA has stud if thus^r work ml. It would like to divert the naderground water to the Montana Ea sources Esc. concentrator for mdustrial use. METs Hay Ttlman, however, sold late Wednesday MKJ won't make a decision, until the water duality and anawad are known, "It's hard te say yew wiE or you won't," be said., "until you know bow much of what is there." Peeples and I>aily met with EPA, Bureau of Mines and state health Mfieials earlier this week, and some things from that gathering dis turbed the Butte leaders. Daily was angered that, appar ently, EPA does not have a treat- in on short notice to eteasse the mine water and discharge if usto Silver Bow Creek, EPA officials have said at sev eral previous meetings such a plant is available oo short notice. Peoples said tm understands that EPA does have the technology to treat soch water to meet drmkiag staudards; however, to dump into Stiver Bow Creek, ft must be clean er than that tec some contaminants, specifically arseaie. "They said they don't have the sufficiently. Peoples said. Peoples and Daily arc also op posed t=e aVn,!alt'ernati;v-e palan of seed- mmo water to the Berkeley Pit, via the Ansemio Mine area, llydraulieally, the pit and the west mines Peeples termed that alternative "absurd," in largo part because no one is certain what is going to hap pen with the pit's rising water. EPA estimates show she pit water could reach a point whore it starts to scop away in 1596, "In throe short days, it's l , " Peoples noted, or seven years away. Daily said, "Von delay one prob lem but accelerate the other," He said a rough estimate m teat divert ing the west mine water to the pit would reduce the titi-op time by about a year. Sierra Club v. 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