Abandoned Mine Lands Program · Abandoned Mine Lands Program. 2 Abandoned Mine Lands in California...
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1 Abandoned Mine Lands Program
Transcript of Abandoned Mine Lands Program · Abandoned Mine Lands Program. 2 Abandoned Mine Lands in California...
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Abandoned Mine Lands Program
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Abandoned
Mine Lands in
California
BackgroundExtent
Types of Hazards
Identifying PrioritiesCriteria
Guiding Decisions
Collaboration
Project Development
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California’s estimated 47,000 abandoned minesEXTENT
48
13
5 2 2
30
0
10
20
30
40
50
Gold Aggregate/Stone
Copper Silver Mercury Others
Commodity Mined (%)
84%
11%
5%
AML Hazard Type
Physical Safety Environmental Neither
2621
12 105 5
21
05
1015202530
SanBernardino
Inyo "MotherLode" *
Kern Mono Riverside Others
Location (% Abandoned Mines by County)
* Sierra, Nevada, Placer, El Dorado, Amador, Calaveras, Tuolumne, Mariposa, Plumas, and Madera counties.
67% 2%
31%
Ownership by Agency
Federal State or Local Private
ARD from Iron Mountain Mine, Shasta Co.
ENVIRONMENTAL CONTAMINATION
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Child playing in arsenic-laden tailings from Lava Cap
Mine, Nevada Co. Photo: Dan Ziarkowski, DTSC.
AR
SE
NIC
ACID ROCK DRAINAGE
MERCURY & METHYL MERCURY
Mercury retort and condenser pipes
SAFETY HAZARDS
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Islander Mine, San Bernardino Co., bat gate installed.
SHAFTS, STOPES, & VERTICAL OPENINGS
HIG
HW
ALLS
& F
ALL H
AZ
AR
DS
Unstable highwalls, Iron Age
Mine, San Bernardino Co.
Cupola over
deep shaft of
Kelly Mine,
Kern Co.
PARTNERSHIPS - HAZARD REMEDIATION
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Public Land Management
AgenciesUSFS, BLM, NPS,
State, County
State Program
AMLU at Dept of
Conservation
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency Superfund, Brownfields
grants
Dept. of Toxic Substances Control
Preliminary Endangerment Assessments
State and Regional Water Boards
TMDLs, Cleanup and Abatement
Orders, Clean Water Act enforcement
CAMLAG
Prioritizing Remediation
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Evaluate and manage risk Rank based on risk to human
health and environment
Transparent & explainable rationale
Ranks sites relative to each other
Apply limited government resources strategically
Focus resources on highest risk sites
Build future budget requests
Leverage funding sources
Increase collaboration, coordination on highest priorities
Build a tool using existing data
The California Abandoned Mine Land Agency Group (CAMLAG) charter identifies the group’s role with two objectives Support a more efficient and
effective implementation of programs and tools used to address California’s abandoned mine land problems.
Develops criteria for selecting and addressing abandoned mine sites for remediation.
CAMLAG
Criteria - Scoring and Ranking Mine Sites
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Contaminant Hazard
Type of Contaminants
Threat to human health,
environment
Type of mine/ore
processing
Stability and Mobility
Water quality indicators
Population, Access,
Exposure
Physical Safety Hazard
Number, Condition of
openings (shafts, adits)
High walls
Threat to safety of people
or animals
Stability (openings,
structures, waste piles, mill
tailings)
Population, Access,
Exposure
Apply criteria for conducting
inventory
Not yet
inventoried/Not
yet screened
Inventory - Site
Discovery & Screening
Low
Risk
High
Risk
Full site assessment
Investigate for contaminants
Apply criteria based on
data from site inventory.
Rank sites to perform site
investigation for
contaminants.
Apply criteria based on data
from investigation.
Rank sites for full scale site
assessment.
Remediate
Additional Steps
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Identify data
Create scoring system, weighting factors
Test against existing prioritized lists
Example of a scoring system
𝑇𝐿 ∗ 50 + 𝑊𝑅 ∗ 10 + 𝑀𝐿 ∗ 𝐹𝑀𝐿 ∗ 200 ∗ 𝐶𝑃
= 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
(((𝐶𝑂 ∗ 𝐹𝑂) ∗ 100) + ((𝐶𝐻 ∗ 𝐹𝐻) ∗ 50) + (𝑆𝑆𝑆 ∗ 10) + (𝑆𝐿𝑆 ∗ 10) +((𝐶𝑊𝐵 ∗ 𝐹𝑊𝐵) ∗ 20) + ((𝐶𝑀𝑇 ∗ 𝐹𝑀𝑇) ∗ 20)) = 𝑃ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐻𝑎𝑧𝑎𝑟𝑑 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
𝐴𝐶𝐶 + 𝐶𝐿𝑈 + 𝐹𝐿𝑈 + 𝑃𝑂𝑃 = 𝑃ℎ𝑦𝑠𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
𝑊𝑇𝑆𝐹 ∗ 𝑆𝐶 + 𝐸𝑅𝑂 + 𝐷𝐼𝑆 + 𝑆𝐸𝐷 + 𝑉𝐸𝐺 + 𝐴𝐶𝐶 + 𝐶𝐿𝑈 + 𝐹𝐿𝑈 + 𝑃𝑂𝑃
= 𝐶ℎ𝑒𝑚𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝐸𝑥𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑆𝑐𝑜𝑟𝑒
Funds
Authorities
Partner Programs
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AML PROJECT DEVELOPMENT
Remediation/Reclamation of
Legacy Mines
Area &
Site
Priorities
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AML Cleanup - Process Overview
Inventory Site | Preliminary Screening
Preliminary Endangerment Assessment
Land
Management
Agency
Site & Remedial Investigation
Risk Assessment
Feasibility Study
Remediation Action Plan | CEQA/NEPA
Cleanup Certification O & M
Physical Hazards
• Prioritize, Close, Maintain
Environmental Hazards
• Prioritize for Further Investigation
Data
A
M
L
U
Federal or State Contaminant Clean Up Programs
