Local group looks for sources of heavy metals from Keystone Mine

Response from mining company has been limited

The Coal Creek Watershed Coalition is having a hard time mining information from U.S. Energy, Thompson Creek Metals and Kobex Resources about the source of some heavy metals that are making their way into Crested Butte’s main water supply.

In 2008, the Coal Creek Watershed Coalition (CCWC) presented a draft of its Annual Water Quality Monitoring Report for data collected in 2007 to Kobex and U.S. Energy (USE) and asked that the companies provide comments on what was found: mineralized stormwater that has measurable levels of zinc and cadmium leaving the Keystone Mine.
But the response the coalition got the following March didn’t go far enough in addressing the concerns of the group. So almost a year ago, the CCWC sent Mt. Emmons Project director of community relations Perry Anderson another letter detailing some of the concerns they had with the comments provided by environmental consultant Golder Associates at the behest of USE.
In the letter to Anderson, CCWC director Anthony Poponi asked for more information on the potential sources of contamination to the water coming out of the Keystone Mine. Poponi also addresses several of the comments made by Golder Associates.
One such comment from Golder Associates was “The locations with the highest metals concentrations… are above the 2000 Level of the Keystone Mine and [consultant] EnviroGroup attributes this flow and metals load to be non-mine related sources (natural background).”
The CCWC found the response lacking in detail and asked for some clarification on the technical aspects of the mine’s inner workings and probes into whether or not there had been any alterations to two mine features that could have caused the mineralized stormwater.
“The CCWC has access to limited information on the mine workings and portal locations so we are unsure of how some of these conclusions have been reached,” the letter says.
The coalition also expressed some concerns about the number of potential sources of contamination that had been identified by EnviroGroup, saying the data “does not address all of the sources affecting water quality at [one or more of] the sample site[s].”
All of Poponi’s questions were addressed in a one-page response from USE vice president of engineering Frederick Craft. None of the responses stray far from Golder Associates’ conclusions that were the source of the CCWC’s original concern.
In August of this year, the CCWC responded to Craft’s letter, saying “Mr. Craft’s response did little to elaborate on operations or site conditions at the Keystone Mine that might help clarify the source(s) of mineralization in stormwater leaving your site. Our organization has invested considerable time and effort in trying to determine the source(s) affecting water quality impairments in the reach of Coal Creek adjacent to and downstream of your property and your cooperation in helping determine the source areas and potential remedies would be appreciated.”
Since the last letter sent by the CCWC, Anderson says USE has drafted a more thorough response, which is still being reviewed internally.