When a mining corporation comes to extract resources and then shuts down operations, there are toxins and other substances remaining that require clean-up. Any changeover of ownership also requires the new owners to assume responsibility for the clean-up process. As is the case in many mining communities, once the mining and resources are extracted, the community is left to foot the bill for clean-up, often non-exsistant under our current EPA administrations..

What remains are copper oxides, mercury, arsenic, uranium and other toxins are leaching off into the local waterwhed, that of the Walker River, upstream of the Mason Valley, with the final destination for this interior draining river as Walker Lake, the home of the Pauite Nation, birthplace of Ghost Dancer Wokova.

As all is connected, the ecosystems and residents from Yerington to Walker Lake are effected by the leaching of toxins into this watershed. Endangered species, including the Lahontan cutthrout trout, are suffering and striggling for survival from low water flows and toxic run-off from the Anaconda copper mine..

background on Walker Lake from NVWF;

"From the east side of the Sierra Nevada mountains, the Walker River flows north and east through broad, rich alluvial valleys before turning south to terminate in Walker Lake, where there is no outlet except for evaporation. These valleys, including Antelope, Smith and Mason Valleys, support as much as 100,000 acres of alfalfa. As lake water evaporates, dissolved material remains behind and, because there is less water for the same amount of solids (salts), the concentration, expressed as total dissolved solids (TDS) increases.

Walker Lake is a remnant of the Pleistocene Lake Lahontan which covered much of central and northern Nevada (Grayson 1993). As the climate dried, Lake Lahontan receded and many closed valleys became isolated dry lake beds. However, the three major rivers draining east from the Sierra Nevada continued to support lakes and wetlands. More famous than Walker Lake is Pyramid Lake, the only habitat of the endangered Cui-ui fish, into which drains the Truckee River. The Carson Sink and Stillwater Wetlands, recognized as a world Biosphere Reserve, lie at the terminus of the Carson River.


Biodiversity
Because of the historic fluctuations, only three endemic fish species survived in Walker Lake. Most numerous is the Tui Chub (Gila bicolor), a subspecies of special concern of the American Fisheries Society. The Lahontan Cutthroat Trout (LCT) (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi) occupies the top of the fish food chain. An adaptive species, adult LCT in lakes may reach lengths of several feet, while adult individuals in fluvial populations may be only six inches long. Because of Weber Reservoir just upstream from the lake on the Walker River Paiute Reservation, LCT have not successfully spawned since the 1930s. Although classified as Threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act, the Walker Lake population has no protection because it is maintained by artificial propagation. A third native species, the Tahoe Sucker (Catostomus tahoensis) is rare in Walker Lake because of a lack of spawning habitat. These fish have evolved high tolerances to adverse conditions."

found @;
http://www.nvwf.org/issues/iss_wlkr1.htm


What can be expected from the U.S. Gov's EPA as a reasonable time line for clean-up of the toxin leaching Anaconda Copper mine in Yerington, NV??

Years? Decades? Most unreasonable. Under the GW Bush regime, the Environmental Protection Agency fails once again at providing people and their environments any sort of protection. Perhaps Environmental Procrastination Agency is more accurate??

"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)"

found @;
http://www.greatbasinminewatch.org/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=53&Itemid=86


What is being done about evidence of cancer clusters in towns like Yerington? Again, no response or assisstance from either Atlantic Richfield or the EPA to the plight of residents of the Walker River watershed..


background on Yerington;

Lack of information concerns Yerington residents

Locals worry about mine pollution

By Kristin Larsen

Sparks Tribune

Published January 5, 2005

Updated 9-8-2006

"While agencies evaluate possible workers’ safety risks at the Yerington mine, some residents wonder if radioactive contaminates could be infiltrating their well water or blowing into their community during dust storms.


How much radiation is too much?

The average dose nationwide is approximately 360 millirems per year.

The EPA standard for radiation from man-made sources for the public is 15 millirems per year.


The OSHA and Nuclear Regulatory Commission standard for workers appropriately trained and equipped is 5,000 millirems per year.


Atlantic Richfield’s standard for workers on the Yerington site is 500 millirems per year. That is 10 percent of the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) standard.

According to preliminary evaluations and former mine owner Atlantic Richfield's Worker Health and Safety Plan, contractors can safely work in most parts of the mine, but there are different safety standards for residents. Little has been done to evaluate those risks.

"The problem with this site is that we don't have enough information," said Jim Sickles, Environmental Protection Agency remedial project manager. "In a year or two we should be a lot smarter."

Sickles said agencies have different standards because they are evaluating different risks and some are more conservative than others. Agencies like OSHA look at what is an acceptable momentary dosage, whereas the EPA evaluates health risks over a 30-year period.

Sickles compares these different processes to evaluating the health risks of a person who walks through a smoke-filled room verses someone who lives in a smoke-filled house. The acceptable annual dosage for a person living in a smoke-filled house should be much lower because it is a long-term risk that could accumulate in a person’s body.


Yerington resident and former mine worker Brian Gibbs said he would appreciate more information about possible health risks to residents and former workers.


"I think people deserve to know the truth about the site, especially those who own property," Gibbs said. "The town needs to know the truth for the future of the community."


But Gibbs said the residents of Yerington have mixed feelings about finding contamination on their property and some might prefer not to know because they are afraid of property values plummeting.

There is a large community surrounding the site. According to an NDEP document from 2000, "The local groundwater is the sole source of drinking water for the approximately 3,000 people living within four miles of the site."

The document also said the mine was repeatedly cited in 1983 for polluting the groundwater and that drainage ditches north of the site were being"degraded, possibly by the groundwater seeps emanating from the mine." The groundwater on the mine site is still contaminated but pumps designed to keep the groundwater on the site are still in operation.

Well results from September 2004 show all the domestic wells on the Yerington Paiute Campbell Reservation are eligible for free water due to uranium contamination. This is an increase from previous months.

However, there has been no direct link made between the mine and the wells' high content of uranium.

To investigate these issues Peggy Pauly and others are organizing the Community Action Group for Yerington.

Pauly said they are attempting to ensure the safety of the community by fighting for proper testing.

"We have been called chicken-littles," Peggy Pauly said. "Prove to me the sky is not falling. Some people are acting like ostriches."


To date Atlantic Richfield, owned by British Petroleum, has installed six air monitors, conducted quarterly water samples, capped 80 percent of mining tailing to prevent it blowing away, said Dan Ferriter, ARCO environmental business manager."


found @;

http://www.nevadalabor.com/unews/mining.html#yerington

http://www.nevadalabor.com/unews/mining.html

There's got to come a point for some action, some tangible clean-up process to begin??