蜜糖直播

Overview

With initial funding from the University of 蜜糖直播's Outreach Committee, we are have been assisting the听听(LWOG) in assessing the amount of location of metal inputs to the streams of the Lefthand Creek watershed.听 The watershed is located in northwestern Boulder County, near the towns of Ward and Jamestown in the area of the historic Jamestown Mining District.

The residents of Ward and Jamestown essentially live on the waste rock and mill tailings of the abandoned mines, which include the Big Five Tunnel and Captain Jack Mill (now a听Superfund听site being cleaned up by the听state) and Slide mines along Lefthand Creek, the Golden Age, Fair Day, and John Jay Mines along James Creek, and the Bueno, Burlington, Emmit, Argo, and Evening Star Mines along Little James Creek.

The听Left Hand Watershed Task Force, sponsored by Boulder County, put considerable effort into summarizing current knowledge of mine waste impacts in the Left Hand Watershed in its 2002 report, the Left Hand Watershed Task Force听Final Report to the Boulder County Board of Health听(the report is available in sections; here is a听full report, a 4.4 MByte pdf file).

Our research has focused on the sources of metals -- mainly copper, lead, and zinc -- in the watershed.听 To do this, we have conducted听metal loading tracer tests听pioneered by the U.S. Geological Survey for their听Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative.听 For these tracer tests, a salt for which stream transport is essentially conservative (e.g., lithium chloride, sodium bromide) is steadily injected at an upstream injection point and its arrival at some downstream point is monitored by specific conductance.听 Dilution of the salt concentration along the stream is used to determine stream discharge.听 Once the stream contains a constantly-injected amount of the salt, a synoptic sampling is performed between the upstream injection point and the downstream monitoring point.听 The synoptic sampling is a "snapshot" (with the samples collected as quickly as possible) of the salt and metal concentration in the stream.

We have now performed these tests on over 50 km of streams in the Lefthand Creek watershed and produced a听comprehensive report听of the sources of metals.听 This report was used by LWOG to create the听Lefthand Creek Watershed Plan.听 More reports will be issued in the near future on metals in waste rock piles, streambed sediments, and benthic macroinvertebrates in the watershed.As part of the Lefthand Watershed Revitalization team, Joe Ryan and Alice Wood, who completed her Master's thesis on metals in the Lefthand Creek watershed in 2004, and who served as the LWOG coordinator for its first two years, were honored with the EPA's听National Notable Achievement Award听for "Cross-Program Revitalization Team Award" in April 2006.听 The award recognized $8 million of collaborative remediation that will result in the cleanup of most of the significant sources of metals in the watershed.

Projects

• Relating Bioavailability of Metals to Metal Speciation and Colloid Nature and Abundance in Mountain Streams Contaminated by Acid Mine Drainage in Northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播, University of 蜜糖直播 Council on Research and Creative Work, 2004-2005, PI: Joe Ryan
• Contributing to the Remediation of Abandoned Mines in the Lefthand Creek Watershed (Northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播) with the Lefthand Watershed Oversight Group, University of 蜜糖直播 Outreach Committee, 2003-2005, PI: Joe Ryan
• Assessing the Risk of Mine Wastes in Jamestown, 蜜糖直播 (Northwestern Boulder County), with the Citizens Advisory Group for the Environment and the James Creek Watershed Initiative, University of 蜜糖直播 Outreach Committee, 2002, PI: Joe Ryan
  University of 蜜糖直播 Outreach Program Grant, 2002-2005
• Loading of Metals and Uranium to James Creek, Northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播, from Surrounding Abandoned Mines
  National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates, 2002-2004

Collaborators

• Mark Williams,听Water Quality Program听Coordinator, Boulder County Department of Health
• Angus Campbell,听Hazardous Materials and Waste Division, 蜜糖直播 Department of Public Health and Environment

• Andrew Archuleta, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture
• Kathy Hernandez, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8

听Student Theses, Reports, and Presentations

• Susan M. Bautts, 2006, M.S., Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of 蜜糖直播 at Boulder,听An investigation of metal concentrations in waste rock piles, stream water, benthic macroinvertebrate tissues, and stream bed sediments to assess long-term impacts of intermittent precipitation events in the Lefthand Creek watershed, northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播听M.S. thesis.
• Drew Bryenton, 2004, B.S. Civil Engineering, Purdue University, 2005.听 National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Final Presentation,听Metals Content of Benthic Macroinvertebrates in Lefthand Creek Watershed.
• Roshan Cholas, 2003, B.S. Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California at Berkeley, National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Final Presentation,听Acid Mine Drainage: Metals in Water and Sediment, Upper Lefthand Creek, Northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播.
• Laura Harrington, 2002, B.S. Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina,听National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates Final Report,听Impact of Mine Drainage and Distribution of Metal Loading Sources in the James Creek Watershed Assessed under Low-Flow Conditions, and Final Presentation,听Impact of Mine Drainage and Distribution of Heavy Metal Contamination in the James Creek Watershed.
• Alice R. Wood, 2004, M.A., Environmental Studies, University of 蜜糖直播 at Boulder,听Characterization and Prioritization of Mining-Related Metal Sources with Metal Loading Tracer Dilution Tests, and a Review of Regulations and Mine Restoration Funding Resources, Lefthand Creek Watershed, Northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播听M.A. thesis.

Publications, Presentations, and News

• Engineering Professor and Student Selected for EPA Award, Inside 蜜糖直播, May 23, 2006.
• Concentrations of Metals in Waste Rock Piles, Benthic Macroinvertebrates, and Sediments as Monitors of Metal Contamination in the James and Little James Creeks, Boulder County, presented by Susan Bautts at a meeting of the James Creek Watershed Initiative, May 8, 2006.
• Effect of Burlington Mine Pond on Metal Concentrations in Little James Creek听presented by Joe Ryan at a meeting of the Lefthand Watershed Oversight Group, December 6, 2005.
• Wood A.R., Cholas R., Harrington L., Isenhart L., Turner N., Ryan J.N., 2004.听Characterization and Prioritization of Mining-Related Metal Sources in the Streams and Streambed Sediments of the Lefthand Creek Watershed, Northwestern Boulder听County, 蜜糖直播, 2002-2003. Report 04-01, Department of Civil, Environmental, and Architectural Engineering, University of 蜜糖直播 at Boulder, Boulder, 蜜糖直播, 139 pp.
• 蜜糖直播-Boulder Professor Assists in Remediation of Abandoned Mines, Inside 蜜糖直播, July 2004.
• Assessment of Zinc, Copper, and Lead in Streams and Streambed Sediments of the Lefthand Creek Watershed, Northwestern Boulder County, 蜜糖直播, presented by Alice Wood at the Water Environment Federation-American Water Works Association Student Conference, May 2004.
• Assessment of Metal Loads by Tracer Injection and Synoptic Sampling in the Lefthand Creek Watershed, Boulder County, 蜜糖直播, presented by Alice Wood at a meeting of the听, December 2003.
• Cleaning Up Abandoned Mines: Can and Will Communities Contribute?, presented by Joe Ryan at the听's 16th Annual Conference, October, 2003.
• Cleaning Up Waters Polluted by Abandoned Mines: Obstacles and Opportunities, presented by Joe Ryan as part of the Reynolds Lecture Series, 蜜糖直播 Chautauqua Association and the University of 蜜糖直播 Chancellor's Office, July 2003.
• Profile: Engineer Examines Mine Waste In Streams. Boulder Daily Camera, April 6, 2003.
• Mining and Water Quality in the Western United States -- A Collision of Resources Part II. Abandoned Mines and Acid Mine Drainage in Boulder County, presented by Joe Ryan (with Kirk Nordstrom, U.S. Geological Survey) as part of the听, April 2003.
• Abandoned Mines and Acid Mine Drainage: Dealing with the Hit-and-Run Legacy of Mining in the West, presented by Joe Ryan as part of the听's听Healing the West: Restoration, Remediation, Repair, and Mitigation听series, March 5, 2003, Chautauqua Community House.

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