Hecla takes first
step in Grouse Creek reclamation
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
As the first tangible step in a mine site
reclamation process near Stanley, officials at Hecla Mining Co.’s Grouse Creek
Mine in late-May began draining a massive tailings pond and discharging the
heavy metal-laden effluent into the Yankee Fork of the Salmon River
Complete draining of the 450 million
gallon, 80-acre tailings impoundment is projected to take more than three years.
"We’re very happy that we’ve been able to
begin the dewatering process after a very thorough investigation into all the
alternatives," said Vicki Veltkamp, vice president of Hecla’s investor and
public relations department. "We’re glad we’re able to actually move forward now
and actually begin the process, and it’s going very well."
However, the environmental community
remains unsatisfied, asserting that the tailing pond’s effluent should be
treated before being discharged in the Yankee Fork.
"We think this is the wrong approach to be
using, and we oppose them doing it," said Justin Hayes with the Idaho
Conservation League. "I think they absolutely need to be cleaning it up before
they release it into the river."
The project began May 27, and since June
1, approximately 1.9 cubic feet of effluent per second have been discharged into
the Yankee Fork, a tributary of the Salmon River and habitat for spawning
chinook salmon, a threatened species. As high water recedes, so will the mine’s
discharge, said Dean Morgan, U.S. Forest Service on-scene coordinator.
Draining of the now defunct Grouse Creek
gold mine’s tailings impoundment was authorized on May 21, when Intermountain
Regional Forester Jack Troyer signed a "removal action memorandum," which is a
blueprint for regulating the process. However, endangered species consultation
with the National Marine Fisheries Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
has not been completed, Morgan said.
According to the memorandum, the tailings
impoundment waters meet drinking quality standards but do not meet the more
stringent standards designed to safeguard aquatic life. For that reason, the
discharge into the Yankee Fork is conducted using a diffuser, which spreads the
discharge over a large area, and in a downstream mixing zone, Morgan said.
Hayes said use of mixing zones is a
long-standing point of contention among environmentalists.
"Sacrificing the water quality even in a
section of the river is inappropriate," Hayes said. "We just can’t support it."
Mining activist Tom Blanchard is at the
forefront of the Grouse Creek issue and said in an earlier interview that the
release of untreated water would be unacceptable.
"The alternative is to get it to (higher)
water quality standards before they get it into the stream," he said, calling
the Yankee Fork and Salmon River "an already tortured environment."
"How many times do we have to lose again
and again?" Blanchard asked. "We’re spending millions to clear the way for
salmon to recover, but we’re doing this kind of thing. We can make this water
clean. It’s just a matter of money."
The liquid effluent in the impoundment
contains traces of cyanide, ammonia, selenium, mercury, cadmium, copper, lead,
silver and zinc, as well as 4.4 million tons of solid mining tailings. By June
21, the water in the tailings impoundment was down 29.9 million gallons, Morgan
said.
This spring’s decision, however, is only
the most recent chapter in an ongoing saga, which began at the mine’s 1995
dedication.
At the dedication, then Rep. Mike Crapo,
R-Idaho, applauded the mine’s developers for their care of the area’s natural
setting, according to a Hecla press release dated Aug. 16 of the same year.
The Grouse Creek mine arrived in the
limelight in 1999 when Coeur d’Alene-based Hecla reported high cyanide levels in
Jordan Creek, downstream from the now-closed gold mine, to the Idaho Department
of Environmental Quality.
Shortly after reporting the contamination,
Hecla set up a system of pumps and wells to recirculate cyanide-contaminated
springs and seeps back into the mine’s holding pond.
Once the pumps were turned on, cyanide
levels in Jordan Creek nearly vanished, and an evaporation system installed on
the tailing pond helped to break cyanide levels in the pond to within drinking
quality standards.
Veltkamp said Hecla, which has been in
existence for 109 years, is currently operating four mines in Nevada, Venezuela,
Idaho and Alaska.
Hecla spent $100 million to build Grouse
Creek and has lost, so far, $150 million in operations and cleanup efforts. The
company projects that cleanup at Grouse Creek will cost $30 million.
"The environment is still a large concern
with us," she said, "which is why we’re working so hard to clean it up."