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This may be old news to some of you, but I just learned about it:

This is a list of 6 Superfund sites in Silver City area (as of 1997... old list but haven't found a new one)... does anyone know what their status is? I didn't have time to do extensive computer research and hope someone on this list might know... thanks...

CLEVELAND MILL FOREST ROUTE 804, 1.5 MI NMD981155930

COPPER LEACH OPERATION 10 MILES SW OF SILVER CITY, NM NMD986684249

EAST CAMP MILL 38 MILES NW OF SILVER CITY, NM NM0001408244


HEARST MILL SILVER AVE & 22ND STREET NM0000037408

SAN VINCENTE CREEK TAILINGS 1/2MI. SW OF SILVER CITY ON W.BANK NMD980879415
SAN V

WHITEWATER & HANOVER CREEKS 10 MILES EAST OF SILVER CITY NMD986682763


(from Wikipedia)... "designated under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) environmental law. The CERCLA federal law of 1980 authorized the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to create a list of polluted locations requiring a long-term response to clean-up hazardous material contaminations. These locations are known as Superfund sites, and are placed on the National Priorities List (NPL). The NPL guides the EPA in "determining which sites warrant further investigation" for environmental remediation. As of May 2, 2010, there were thirteen Superfund sites on the National Priorities List in New Mexico. One more site has been proposed for entry on the list and four others have been cleaned up and removed from it.

I only know of the Superfund clean up here in Pinos Altos which was done some years ago. The buildings of the mine were taken down and the mine was closed or blocked from anyone entering from that site. The clean up was done and followed down the hill to the east all the way down to highway 15. One can still see the area cleaned up but it's now being taken over with vegetation.

I am certain the only "Superfund" site in the county was the old Cleveland Mill site by Little Walnut, which has been fully remediated. It is a mystery as to where those other sites came from. Even the EPA web site is confused (not unusual) -- their CERCLA page lists Tyrone as a Superfund site -- it is not. Never has been. That site does not list the other sites you mentioned.

In response to Allee Barr’s request for information regarding Silver City/Grant County sites on EPA’s Superfund list, the Gila Resources Information Project (GRIP) pulled together more detailed information on each site.. We are available to answer any additional questions people might have about these areas.
Sally Smith, President
Allyson Siwik, Executive Director
Regina Willis, AmeriCorps/OSM VISTA member
Gila Resources Information Project
305A North Cooper St.
Silver City, NM 88061
575-538-8078 voice/fax
grip@gilaresources.info
http://www.gilaresources.info


Cleveland Mill located on Forest Route 804, North of Silver City – Site ID NMD981155930

The Cleveland Mill superfund site was an abandoned lead, zinc, and copper mining and milling operation. Mill tailings and mine waste rock were discarded in several sites on the property during mining and processing activities.

In the early 1980s, local residents became concerned about acid run off draining from the tailings into Little Walnut Creek and causing a red discoloration of creek water. These citizens raised their concerns about the site to the New Mexico Environment Department.

By 1989, the site was listed on the National Priorities List. Remediation of the site began in 1997 and the final clean up was completed in 1999. The site was removed from the National Priorities List in 2002 after a five year review. The report for this review is available online as a PFD document at the following location: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/five ... 001807.pdf

Copper Leach Operation- located Southwest of Silver City – Site ID NMD986684249

The copper leach operation is a site that underwent exploration, intermittent mining, leach testing, and iron precipitated copper production in the 1960s and 1970s. . Purchased by Phelps Dodge (now Freeport-McMoRan) in 1990, the site has been on standby status under the NM Mining Act since 2004. Freeport-McMoRan is completing in-place reclamation of the existing leach stockpile and precipitation plant as a requirement of standby status approval. This remediation, will be completed this year, Copper Leach, a heap leach facility associated with the Little Rock Mine, which is now part of the Tyrone Mine complex, is being regraded, covered and reseeded in place. Given the recent rise in global copper prices, FMI is now proposing to develop and operate the Little Rock Mine and has submitted a revised closure/closeout plan for clean-up and reclamation of the site once mining ceases. For more information on how FMI intends to reclaim this area, go to http://www.emnrd.state.nm.us/MMD/MARP/p ... t_Plan.pdf

Eat Camp Mill located 38 Miles Northwest of Silver City - Site ID NM0001408244

This is the site also referred to as the East Camp Mine. It is located on patented land surrounded by Bureau of Land Management Land. The historic operations at this site produced gold, silver, copper, lead, and zinc. This site consists of several building and mill foundations, several mine shafts, a tailings pile, and two impoundments containing tailings.

A preliminary assessment conducted by the New Mexico Department of Environmental Quality started in 1996 and was completed in 1998. We are researching this site further and will post another response when more information is available.

Whitewater & Hanover Creeks located 10 Miles East of Silver City - Site ID NMD986682763

Hanover and Whitewater Creeks run from the Fierro/Cobre Mine area down past highway 180 near Hurley. These creeks are impacted by contamination from historic mining. This site was originally on the CERCLA National Priory List and was investigated by CERCLA for Superfund listing in the 1990s. However, the state took over this site as part of the Administrative Order On Consent (AOC), a CERCLA- style investigation and remediation that has continued for the last 14 years. Hanover and Whitewater Creeks comprise one of several Investigation Units including the town of Hurley that encompasses about 55 square miles of historic mining waste associated with Chino Mine. As part of the AOC, interim cleanup of "tin can" copper precipitation enterprises along Whitewater Creek has already been completed. Additionally, an Ecological Risk Assessment has been revised and an Environmental Risk Assessment is pending. Once completed, a pre-Feasibility Study and Remedial Action Criteria will be written for the site, possibly by the end of2010. These studies will document the levels of contamination and possible remediation actions. Since its establishment, GRIP has been an active member of the Community Work Group, the citizens’ advisory group involved in the AOC process. GRIP continues to provide public input to the process to ensure that these sites are cleaned up to levels that protect public health and the environment.

Hearst Mill located at Silver Ave & 22nd St - Site ID NM0000037408

The Hearst Mill was a historic mining operation processing ore from local mines.The site was remediated in 1994 as an emergency cleanup conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

San Vicente Creek Tailings located half a mile Southwest of Silver City on the west bank of the creek - Site ID NMD980879415

The San Vicente Creek Tailings located just south of town on the west bank of San Vicente Creek sit on the site of the former Silver City Reduction Works, a historic smelter in operation from the 1880s through the 1940s. The San Vicente Creek Tailings were brought to the site circa World War II to be reprocessed by the Silver City Reduction Works. However, this plan never came to fruition. Now 70 years later, the tailings still remain. During intense rainfall, tailings have drained into the creek carrying contamination into this perennial stream that is home to native fish and other wildlife. Local residents, land owners and concerned citizens are worried that this site could pose a risk to human and environmental health. The site has also become an obstacle to economic redevelopment of the area as part of Silver City’s River Walk project. In 1985, the New Mexico Environment Department tested the composition of the tailings. These tests revealed that the tailings contain elevated levels of lead, zinc, copper, cyanide, and arsenic. In order to prevent further contamination of San Vicente Creek, the U.S. EPA built berms to contain the tailings. Eventually, these berms were breached allowing the tailings to drain into the creek. In 2008, the EPA returned to construct ditches and new berms to redirect storm runoff away from the tailings and the creek.

In February 2010, the Gila Resources Information Project received an AmeriCorps OSM/VISTA member to work with the Town of Silver City, New Mexico Environment Department Surface Water Quality Bureau and the Grant County Trails Group and other stakeholdres on the cooperative remediation of legacy mine sites in the Silver City Watershed, including the San Vicente Creek tailings. As part of this effort, GRIP is also organizing a citizens’ environmental monitoring group called the Silver City Watershed Keepers. This group of volunteers will monitor the environmental quality of the Silver City watershed, screening for environmental contaminants, such as those from the San Vicente Creek Tailings, and record other baseline environmental data. This information will be used to track environmental quality of the watershed over time and apply for grant funding for the clean-up and restoration of legacy mines sites such as the San Vicente tailings. For more information or to get involved in the Silver City Watershed Keepers, contact Regina Willis at GRIP at 538-8078 or regina@gilaresources.info