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BRIEF HISTORY OF SUPERFUNDIn this second newsletter the Arrowhead Foundation will focus its attention on the Anaconda Regional Water, Waste and Soils Oper-able Unit and Remedial Design Units (RDUs) 8 - 15 of 15, giving a description of remediation taken or taking place. For an overall view of where each RDU is located please refer to the map.
8. Opportunity PondsThe Opportunity Ponds RDU 8 includes a large tailings impound-ment (The Opportunity Ponds) and surrounding adjacent acreage located northeast of Anaconda. Opportunity Ponds is entirely owned by Atlantic Richfield. Its boundary encompasses approximately 7,388 acres and is located a few miles east of Anaconda and north of Opportunity.
The main feature within RDU 8 is the Opportunity Ponds Tailings impoundment which contains approximately 130 million cubic yards of tailings ranging from 5 to 50 feet deep and covers approxi-mately 3,181 acres. The tailing ponds were formed by the placement of rock fragments separated from metal bearing minerals that were considered wastes and discarded in the tailings ponds.
The RDU 8 area is made up of several sub-regions which include the Opportunity Ponds Waste Management Area (WMA) and the Wastes Left In-Place (WLIP). Waste materials within the WMA are to be stabilized in-place, and ground water with elevated concen-trations of contaminants beneath the waste materials will not be restored. Similar to the Opportunity WMA, the WLIP area, located within the west corner of the Opportunity Ponds RDU 8 will be covered with 18 inches of permanent soil rather than removed.
9. Fluvial TailingsRDU 9 is situated southeast of the town of Opportunity and is bordered by the Chicago-Milwaukee Railroad to the east, RDU 6 (South Opportunity and Yellow Ditch) to the west and is subdivided by Interstate 90. This RDU is mainly made up of an underground aquifer created by storm water. Focusing on remediation for the Mount Haggin/Smelter Hill RDU area the following remedial actions will take place to minimize the on-going transportation of contaminants to other aquifers, protect domestic water users, and provide for contingency water systems in the event of newly identified users: 1) revegation and soil cover treatments will aid in containing the source of contamination to other aquifer and domes
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15 - Mount Haggin
3 - Smelter Hill Uplands
1 - Stucky Ridge
8 - R.D.U.#8-Opportunity Ponds
WG - West Galen Expansion
9 - Fluvial Tailings
2 - Lost Creek
6 - South Opportunity Uplands
14 - Smelter Hill Facilities
4 - Anaconda Ponds
7 - North Opportunity Uplands
13 - Old Works WMA
12 - Slag
5 - Blue Lagoon/Active Railroad
10 - Warm Springs Creek
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Township 5NRange 10W
Township 4NRange 11W
Township 4NRange 10W
Township 5NRange 11W
Township 3NRange 11W
Township 5NRange 9W
Township 6NRange 10W
Township 6NRange 11W
Township 4NRange 12W
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Township 5NRange 12W
Township 6NRange 9W
Township 2NRange 11W
Township 2NRange 12W
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Galen
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Opportunity
Crackerville
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LegendRemedial Design Unit
Anaconda Ponds
Blue Lagoon/Active Railroad
Fluvial Tailings
Lost Creek
Mount Haggin
North Opportunity Uplands
Old Works WMA
R.D.U.#8-Opportunity Ponds
Slag
Smelter Hill Facilities
Smelter Hill Uplands
South Opportunity Uplands
Stucky Ridge
Warm Springs Creek
West Galen Expansion
OwnershipUS Bureau of Land Management
US Bureau of Reclamation
US Fish and Wildlife Service
National Park Service
US Forest Service
US Dept of Agriculture
US Army Corps of Engineers
US Dept of Defense
State Land
Local Government
Bureau of Indian Affairs Trust
Private Land
Plum Creek Timber lands
Private Conservation lands
Water
0 0.7 1.4 2.1 2.80.35
Miles
Anaconda Deer Lodge County
Remedial Design Units
FIGURE 1ADLC_RDUs.mxd
Jeff LeProwse
3/13/2008
ADLCM03
ticl water sources; 2)Implement Institutional Controls (defined in a later issue) to monitor and regulate domestic ground water use; 3) establish a long-term monitoring plan; 4) provide for alternative water supplies. aquifers, protect domestic water users, and provide for contingency water systems in the event of newly identified users: 1) revega-tion and soil cover treatments will aid in containing the source of contamination to other aquifer and domesticl water sources; 2)Implement Institutional Controls (defined in a later issue) to moni-tor and regulate domestic ground water use; 3) establish a long-term monitoring plan; 4) provide for alternative water supplies.
10. Warm Springs CreekWarm Springs Creek originates in the Pintler and Flint Creek moun-tain ranges and has a drainage basin of 163 square miles. The creek flows east through Anaconda to its meeting point with the Warm Springs Pond outflow and Mill/Willow Bypass to form the Clark Fork River near the town of Warm Springs and can be considered in three sections. The upper section flows through a glacial valley before entering Anaconda. The middle section is to be considered the portion of Warm Springs Creek flowing through Anaconda and the Old Works and the lower section is considered to begin east of Galen Road. The primary suspected impact to Warm Springs Creek was due to runoff from upland soils contaminated by smelter emis-sions and past waste releases from the Old Works area. Along the middle section, waste and contaminated soils have been covered and / or treated and subsequently revegetated. Storm water control ditches and sedimentation basins have been constructed to manage runoff from waste caps and covers, and to prevent con-taminated runoff from the unremediated Old Works areas. Small, localized tailing deposits can be observed in several locations. The volume and extent of tailings material lessens as the stream contin-ues to the Clark Fork River.
11. Cashman Concentrate (construction completed)The Cashman Concentrate consisted of approximately 18,000 to 20,000 tons of copper ore concentrate of which the majority is stockpiled adjacent to the East Anaconda Railroad Yards. The area where the Smelter Hill concentrate is located is owned by Rarus Railroad and is within the Smelter Hill Waste Management Area.
The Record of Decision identified that the Cashman Concentrate would either be processed within five years or additional reme-dial options would be evaluated. The material from this RDU was transferred to Montana Resources in Butte. Impacted soils and the liner from the retention pond was consolidated and disposed of at a waste treatment, storage and disposal facility in Oregon. Following excavation of the Smelter Hill stockpile and impacted soils, backfill of the excavation footprint adjacent to the railroad will consist of 6 inches of furnace slag placed to natural contours.
12. SlagThe Main Granulated Slag (MGS) pile is a 168-acre site located approximately one mile east of Anaconda. The footprint of the MGS pile is 133.5 acres and approximately 41.3 million tons of slag. The MGS is situated on the western edge of the Deer Lodge Valley, just southwest of the State highway 1 and Highway 48 intersection. The MGS and immediately adjacent lands are currently owned by Atlan-tic Richfield, Rarus Railway, and Anaconda Deer Lodge County and physical access to the slag site and adjacent Smelter hill area is lim-ited by fencing and access restrictions. Land uses in areas adjoining the MGS are currently zoned industrial/commercial and open space. The Anaconda Landfill Slag (ALS) site is a 16-acre site located approximately one mile east of Anaconda and has an estimated volume of 129,000 cubic yards. The ALS is located north of Warm Springs Creek and west of the Drag Strip Area. The land occupied is owned by Anaconda Deer Lodge County and RDM Multi Enter-prises and is zoned industrial/commercial/open space. Physical ac-cess to the slag pile is limited by access restrictions. This site is also within the Old Works WMA. The West Stack Slag Site (WSS) is located approximately one mile east of Anaconda and consists of two slag piles located in a gulch west of the smelter stack. The estimated amount of slag is about 56,000 cubic yards based on the Record of Decision; however ac-cording to more recent topographical data the estimate is closer to 360,000 cubic yards (approximately 540,000 tons). The two piles occupy about 13 acres of land and are located within a WMA.
13. Old Works GroundwaterThe Old Works Groundwater RDU 13 is located northeast of Ana-conda and includes the areas previously occupied by the historic smelting operations at the Upper and Lower Works near the golf course and the Arbiter Plant. RDU 13 includes the area bounded on the south by Montana Highway 1, Montana Highway 273 to the east, and Cedar Street in Anaconda to the west and encompasses an area of about 2.2 square miles. The Old Works RDU 13 was divided into 6 subareas by waste type and historic smelting operations.
The remedial Action Objectives (RAOs) for the Old Works RDU 13, are as follows: “Return usable ground waters to their beneficial uses wherever practicable through achievement of remedial action goal, within a time frame that is reasonable given the particular circumstances of the site. When restoration of ground water to beneficial uses is not practicable, remediation will prevent further migration of the contamination, prevent exposure to the contami-nated ground water, and further reduce risk by minimizing trans-port of contaminants to the underground aquifers and storm water aquifers.”
14. Smelter Hill FacilityThe Smelter Hill Facilities Area RDU 14 encompasses 1,367 acres. The RDU 14 boundary also encloses the former Anaconda Reduc-tion Works Complex, including the stack area, main flue, concen-trator, and various industrial facilities. The Smelter Hill Facilities RDU 14 includes the area where the majority of the former smelting and processing activates occurred between 1884 and 1980. The Smelter Hill Facilities RDU 14 also encompasses the uplands and Waste Management Area (WMA) of Smelter Hill. The WMA was designated in the Record of Decision as an area where wastes will be left in-place. Remedies include providing a permanent vegetative cover over contaminated soil material to: 1) prevent direct contact with arsenic thus reducing human and wildlife exposure, 2) minimize transport of contaminants to ground water, surface water erosion and con-taminant transport to surface water; 3) minimize wind erosion and movement of contaminants onto adjacent lands thus reducing hu-man and wildlife exposure; 4) reduce surface contaminant levels to allow re-establishment of vegetation, thus reestablishing a wildlife habitat and reducing risk to upland wildlife; 5) remediate contami-nated soils to be compatible with existing and anticipated future land use with minimal future maintenance activities.
15. Mt. Haggin UplandsRDU 15- Mt. Haggin Uplands lies entirely within Mount Hag-gin Wildlife Management Area and is situated south of Anaconda and southeast of Mill Creek Road (anaconda-Ralston Road). The RDU is generally characterized by moderate and steep slopes. The Mt. Haggin Uplands RDU area is owned by the state of Montana (Montana Department of Fish Wildlife and Parks) and is a dedicated Wildlife Management Area with seasonal public access restric-tions and designated road accessibility and continues to be used for recreation and open space/ wildlife habitat. Soils in the area were generally impacted by smelter fallout from the Washoe Smelter.
It is anticipated that implementing land reclamation technologies to address impacted soils and storm water Best Management Practices (BMPs) to help reduce erosion and sediment transport as well as within RDU 15 will help improve water quality.
Opportunity PondsFluvial TailingsWarm Springs CreekCashman ConcentrateSlagOld Works GroundwaterSmelter Hill FacilityMt. Haggin Uplands