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Mining-influenced water treatment technology demonstration program – lessons learned from two EPA superfund sites
Citation:
Dunnington, L., M. Mahoney, B. Butler, AND Kim Prestbo. Mining-influenced water treatment technology demonstration program – lessons learned from two EPA superfund sites. In Proceedings, West Virginia Mine Drainage Task Force Symposium & 15th International Mine Water Association Congress, Morgantown, WV, April 21 - 26, 2024. International Mine Water Association (IMWA), Wendelstein, Germany, 163-167, (2024).
Impact/Purpose:
Conventional mining-influenced water (MIW) water treatment facilities are expensive to operate and maintain - partly because metals containing sludge produced requires management and disposal over long periods, sometimes in perpetuity. In 2020, EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) started a mining site treatment technology field demonstration program with the goal to identify and demonstrate promising treatment technologies that improve, complement or replace conventional treatment technologies for MIW at Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) hardrock abandoned mine land (AML) and mineral processing sites. The presentation will cover two of the technologies piloted within the program: an in-tunnel treatment at the Captain Jack site and a passive treatment at the Elizabeth Mine site. Sharing the lessons learned to date from these sites is of use to program offices, regional offices, and others seeking treatment technologies for water at mining sites.
Description:
Conventional mining-influenced water (MIW) treatment technologies are expensive to operate and maintain, require frequent labor, materials input, and sampling, and produce large quantities of treatment-generated solids that must be managed. In 2019, EPA’s Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology Innovation (OSRTI) initiated a mining site treatment technology field demonstration program for MIW. The program’s primary goal is to identify and demonstrate promising technologies that improve, complement or serve as a viable alternative to conventional technologies for MIW at Superfund National Priorities List (NPL) hardrock abandoned mine land (AML) and mineral processing sites. Candidate sites with planned treatment technologies of interest are selected to participate in one-to-three-year field demonstrations. This paper describes the innovative technologies and lessons learned from OSRTI’s technology field demonstrations at two of these sites: the Captain Jack Mill Superfund Site in Colorado and the Elizabeth Mine Superfund Site in Vermont.
