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Evaluation of the Rotating Cylinder Treatment System™ at Elizabeth Mine, Vermont
Citation:
Butler, B. AND E. Hathaway. Evaluation of the Rotating Cylinder Treatment System™ at Elizabeth Mine, Vermont. Clu-In Mining Webinar Series, N/A, N/A, March 16, 2021.
Impact/Purpose:
Several mining abandoned mining sites are Superfund sites due to their risk to environmental and human health. The Elizabeth Mine in Vermont is one such site. Many actions have been taken at the site to mitigate the risk, including treatment of drainage from the tailing piles using a Rotating Cylinder technology. This presentation provides a history of the Elizabeth Mine site, discusses the actions taken to control drainage from the site into the watershed, and the treatment system that was used as a temporary treatment until loads of iron were low enough to allow for the preferred remedy of a passive treatment system. The Rotating Cylinder Treatment System (RCTS) proved successful at treating the tailing pile drainage to < 1 mg/l over the 8 years of data examined in this study. The treatment system, in combination with the measures taken to manage waste consolidation and other activities conducted across the site (e.g., diversions), allowed delisting of the West Branch of the Ompompanoosuc River from the federal impaired waters list in 2014. The RCTS treatment provided an interim solution for a high load of iron to be treated until the flows and concentrations in the drainage had decreased enough to allow for passive treatment. That this is a viable interim option for sites is useful information for other remediation practitioners.
Description:
Presentation for a Clu-In Mining Webinar Series presenting the history of the Elizabeth Mine Superfund site, remediation at the site, and evaluation of the treatment system used for an interim solution for treating iron from tailings leachate.