Description
Forty-six papers and abstracts studying the Summitville Superfund Mine Site in Colorado. Includes U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Colorado Geological Survey (CGS), and Colorado State University (CSU) authors. May serve as college text or case study in environmental science; useful to earth scientists, mining engineers, attorneys, and public policy analysis. Topics include water chemistry, metal uptake by environment, ore deposit geology, sediment-water metal flux, mine engineering, groundwater hydrology, water treatment technologies, legal assessments of Superfund process. 375 pages. SP-38D
On Dec 1, 1992, the mine owners filed intent to declare bankruptcy and abandon operation of the Summitville gold mine. To prevent pump shutdown and overflowing of cyanide and metal-bearing processing fluids in the coming months into the creek and downstream river, emergency personnel form the State (DMG and CDPHE) and EPA stepped in to keep pump systems operable. For the prior 18 months, the mine owners had been under State enforcement mandates to evaluate contaminant releases from the site and develop remedial measures. In the six months after the mine’s abandonment a broad selection of environmental characterization projects were initiated with personnel from state and federal agencies, contractors, university, local government and concerned citizens. This forum presented the background and results from the separate project reports.
