Community Voices Help Guide Cleanup Decision for Captain
Jack Superfund Site
Sept. 30, 2008 - DENVER - Officials with the
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in
collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency have
changed the proposed remedy to clean up the Captain Jack
Mill, a Superfund site along Lefthand Creek in Boulder
County. The changes come as a result of public input
received by the state during the public comment period. Both
agencies approved the new remedy on Sept. 29.
“Public participation is an integral part of the remedy
selection process,” said Angus Campbell, state project
manager for the Captain Jack Mill site. “We look for
community acceptance of the cleanup plans, just as we look
to make sure that the remedy protects public health and the
environment. It’s important that the remedy be acceptable to
those who live near such sites,” Campbell said.
The cleanup operation at Captain Jack has two components,
one to treat surface contamination sources and the other to
treat groundwater sources. During the public comment period,
multiple community members and groups expressed a preference
for an alternative surface remedy, Alternative 2C, over the
originally proposed action.
As a surface contamination remedy, Alternative 2C calls
for excavation of 85,000 cubic yards of material from areas
across the Superfund site. The waste will be placed in
multiple consolidation cells and capped with a clay layer,
dirt and vegetation. This work will pull back contaminated
waste rock from the banks of Lefthand Creek, reducing the
amount of metals entering the creek.
Community members who preferred this alternative noted
that it contains and controls all of the Captain Jack Mill
site’s waste. It is a more comprehensive remedy than the
original selection.
To control groundwater contamination, the approved remedy
calls for construction of a concrete dam within the mine
that blocks drainage. As the acid mine water builds up
behind the dam, the mine pool is to be neutralized by
injecting a caustic solution to the acidic water. Depending
on the quality of the resulting mine water, the agencies
also may install bioreactors that use bacteria to remove
dissolved metal contamination.
The Captain Jack Mill site was listed on the National
Priorities List in September 2003. The site is located just
south of Ward, Colo., in the Lefthand Creek Watershed.
Decades of mining contributed to the site’s surface and
subsurface contamination. The contaminants of highest
concern are lead, arsenic and thallium.
|
