Another step has been taken in the longstanding effort to clean up the Triumph Mine, with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality garnering just under $2 million from the mine's bankrupt former owner.
On Friday, the DEQ announced that it received $1.9 million from the Tucson, Ariz.,-based American Smelting and Refining Co., or ASARCO, as part of a recent bankruptcy settlement. The company owed the money to complete cleanup work on the Triumph Mine tailings site.
The mine is located in the East Fork drainage, east of the Wood River Valley.
From 1882 until 1957, the Triumph Mine produced ore rich in silver, zinc and lead. As was common at the time, the ores were concentrated using a flotation process that left residual waste material called tailings.
In its preliminary assessment of the Triumph Mine site in 1988, DEQ found high levels of arsenic, manganese and zinc in the surface water. The results included a well test that revealed high levels of lead in the drinking water, the DEQ reported. The lead level was so high that the Centers for Disease Control took an avid interest in the cleanup.
The site was given one of the highest hazard scores in the history of EPA cleanup assessments, making it a candidate for the federal government's Superfund program, established in 1980 to address extremely toxic areas.
ASARCO was required to cover half the cleanup cost, with the other half coming from the Idaho Department of Lands, which had leased the land to the Triumph Mine Co. in 1922 and was therefore held liable. Initial reports put the total cost of cleanup at between $3.5 million and $5.9 million.
According to the DEQ statement, money from the settlement will be used to "complete ASARCO's obligations associated with soils cleanup at the site. This work entails completing community protection measures, maintaining soil caps, monitoring and conducting five-year reviews."
In addition, the funds will pay for the monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the mine plug in the Triumph Tunnel to stop the drainage of contaminated water.
In May, DEQ published its first "Five-Year Review Report for the Triumph Mine Tailings Piles Site." The report acknowledged that individual cleanup by neighboring property owners is not feasible.
Jon Duval: jduval@mtexpress.com
