Sludge close to Malvern

[SteveGabbard]

http://www.fox16.com/news/local/story/R ... px?rss=315" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[LOREN]

My friend from Leadville told me about this a few years ago as we watched his shed slowly sink into a old mine shaft that ran under his backyard....Supposedly after they disovered the problem instead of setting up water treatment facilities they just pumped the contaminated water into a different shaft.


http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=86375

[DeBo]

Some stories have a happy ending. Reclamation of the Leadville and Upper Arkansas area is nearly complete.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m ... ntent;col1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Here is my summary of what has happened in Hot Springs and Malvern; no happy ending here yet:

Major deposits of vanadium were discovered in central Arkansas by Union Carbide’s Western Exploration Group in the 1960s. The Wilson Springs vanadium deposits were the first to be mined solely for vanadium in the United States.
The major use of vanadium is as an alloying metal in iron and steel. Small amounts of vanadium added to iron and steel significantly increase its strength, improve toughness and ductility, and reduce weight, making it suitable for structural and pipeline steel.

Waste production was about 13.4 million tons. A large mountain of tailings sits on the property and a tailings pond. Heavy metals contaminate water that leak from these areas into Wilson Creek.

By 1970, Arkansas was a major vanadium-producing state. There are six producing states and records show that Arkansas was second to Colorado in 1971 and then led the nation in vanadium production for six consecutive years. Over the years since 1980 the mines and mill have been intermittently in operation according to fluctuations in the world market.

The Mining and Metals Division of the Union Carbide Corporation created Umetco Minerals Corporation in 1984, a wholly owned subsidiary of Union Carbide. UMETCO was created to begin reclamation of the mining waste. Different regulations apply to reclamation companies than do for production companies. By creating a different company for reclamation Union Carbide was able to avoid ADEQ’s regulations on heavy metals. Union Carbide’s tailings pond #04 became UMETCO’s tailings pond #01. Recent testing has revealed heavy metal in Wilson Creek and others. Levels of nickel are of particular concern.

In May 1986, the mill and facilities were sold to U.S. Vanadium Corporation, wholly owned by Strategic Minerals Corporation (STRATCOR). Union Carbide retained rights and environmental responsibilities to the mining property. Vanadium mining in the state terminated with the closing of the mines in 1989, however, STRATCOR continues to process stockpiled and purchased ore.

Reclamation of the Christy mine in order to restore the land began after October 1, 1996, when UMETCO renewed their mine reclamation permit with the ADEA Surface Mining and Reclamation Division (ADEQ-SMRD). Reclamation was completed, and the Christy Mine was fully reclaimed by September 23, 1997.

The Wilson Springs mine reclamation started in October, 1997. In its reclamation process UMETCO has been unable to meet state standards for sulfates, chlorides and total dissolved solids. They have petitioned the state agency to change the regulations. Hot Springs and Malvern residents are protesting and are now paying attention to the serious water quality problems which have been occurring there for years.

[JeffT]

This is all about money. The technology to clean this mess is available. Dow doesn't want to spend the money to clean up.
I kayak on Catherine 3 times most weeks. My 6 year old swims there all summer.
Malvern and other towns downstream get drinking water from Ouachita.
At the last meeting with umetco reps many questions were not answered. They said the concentrations of bad stuff were below allowable standards when dumped into Catherine. If there's too much pee in the cereal bowl, the answer isn't to make the bowl bigger, it's to get the pee out.

I met Denise Parkinson at the last meeting with ADEQ. I've sent my opinion to ADEQ. Is there anything else I can do?

[DeBo]

I met Denise Parkinson at the last meeting with ADEQ. I've sent my opinion to ADEQ. Is there anything else I can do?

I have encouraged Denise and others to start digging into the heavy metals question. I recommended that they get some independant testing done and then maybe file a petition of their own. I believe that they are getting the testing done now.

I will pass on anything that I hear. There will be more things to comment on later, I'm sure.