Summitville Mine and its Downstream Effects
| Type |
Site Characterization
|
| Location |
Summitville, Colorado |
| Partners |
|
| Technology |
- Water Treatment
- Backfilling, Capping, and Plugging of Mine Workings
|
| Contaminants |
|
| Description |
The Summitville gold mine in the San Juan Mountains of southwestern
Colorado was the focus of extensive public attention in 1992 and
1993 due to environmental problems stemming from open-pit mining.
Summitville catalyzed national debates about the environmental effects
of modern mining, and became the focus of arguments for proposed
revisions to the 1872 Mining Law governing mining on public lands.
In early 1993, USGS scientists and their partners began a multidisciplinary
investigation to provide needed scientific information on Summitville's
environmental problems and downstream environmental effects. The
Summitville investigation shows how geologic and geochemical information
can be used in future mining operations to more effectively anticipate
and mitigate potential environmental effects of mining for metals.
|
| More Information |
|
| Contact |
Geoffrey Plumlee, U.S. Geological Survey, Denver,
CO, |
| Publications |
- Plumlee, G. S., and Edelmann, P., 1995,
- The
Summitville Mine and its Downstream Effects: U.S. Geological
Survey, An ON-LINE UPDATE of Open-File Report 95-23.
-
|
| Links |
USGS Acid Mine Drainage Remediation Projects
- USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative
- Acidic Plume Remediation Monitoring,
Pinal Creek, AZ
- Evaluating How Downstream Tailings
Deposits Impact the Effectiveness of Remediation Plans, Upper Arkansas River,
Colorado
- Lake Coeur d'Alene Remediation
Assessment
- Summitville Mine and its Downstream
Effects
- Aquatic
Toxicology, Aquatic Physical Habitat, and Sediment Analysis in
Evaluating Land Mine Remediation Measures, Animas River, San
Juan County, Colorado
- Bear-Yuba
Watersheds Interagency Abandoned Mine Lands Project, Bear-Yuba
Watersheds, California
- Benthic
Macroinvertebrate Assessment of Abandoned Mine Lands Runoff and
the Development of Endpoints for the Determination of Ecological
Attainability in the Boulder River, Boulder River, Montana
- Effects
of Nutrients on the Formation of Acidic Mine Drainage
- Integration
of Geological and Ecological Indicators for Assessment of Impacts
on Stream and Riparian Resources, Boulder River, Montana,
and Upper Animas River, Colorado
- Remediating
Some of the World's Most Acidic Waters at the Iron Mountain Superfund
Site--A Tough Challenge for Scientists
- Restoration
of Stream Water Degraded by Acid Mine Drainage, Toby Creek
Mine Drainage Treatment Plant, Elk County, Pennsylvania
- Swatara Creek Basin, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania
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