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Casey McKeon, Environmental Manager with Resolution Copper.
Crews work to repair and reclaim areas damaged by over a century of mining. Submitted | Resolution Copper
Superior, Arizona Well over 100 years ago, miners and entrepreneurs settled in Superior and the surrounding area. It was a booming time, immigrants came from all over the world to conquer the wild west and make their riches, and set their legacy working in the mining camps. This piece of the earth was bearing riches for all who ventured to dig for them, those minerals transformed the world, Copper aided in the advancement of electricity and many other common uses we enjoy today.
In those early days of mining, there were no governmental permits to apply for. First come, first serve and if you claimed it, the riches could be yours. Engineering was checked but the level of knowledge was minimal in those early days as Arizona was being settled. Tailings spots were not planned; they were put where it was convenient. The same was true with the rest of the mining operations: water and air quality were not considered when building the mine – the most important thing was mining the ore and getting it into the marketplace. The town grew up around the mine and most accepted the surroundings, including the mountains of tailings and slag as home. Some will even recall playing in the tall steep slopes of the tailings. There were very few precautions in place for the aging mine; they were not required until most recently.
Fortunately, the terrain around Superior was conducive and forgiving to allow tailing piles in the area. The ground where the historic tailing sites are placed are in areas that naturally keep the toxic materials from seeping into the earth based on the geography of the area. The arid climate keeps the tailings from forming acid rock drainage. Acid rock drainage occurs when the water and air meet the tailings. There was a tailings spill in the 1990s but that was a rare occurrence and was caused due to an above normal rainy winter.
In the early 2000s, Resolution Copper began working on a plan to reopen the historic Magma mine. The new mine would be required to clean up old mining waste and build the new mine to ensure that all environmental regulations were met and this is where the story of reclaiming the old tailings begins.
Casey McKeon, Environmental Manager with Resolution Copper explained how the new mine would be required to start with a clean canvas in its development. In order to do that the company would need to clean up the old mining operations to make sure that the existing tailings would not contaminate the new operations since they were working in the same footprint. The company could have waited to clean up the old tailings site but in order to meet Rio Tinto’s standards for environmental quality, the company enlisted the help of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) and the Voluntary Remediation Program (VRP). This program helped them to establish a timeline to clean up the old tailings site and begin the processes There are at least 15 permits that must be received by the ADEQ just to ensure that aquifer is protected. Those permits are called the Aquifer Protection Permits (APP).
“We could have easily completed the clean up much sooner,” McKeon explained. “We could have hired a huge firm to clean up the tailings and manage all the engineering. Instead we opted to hire local companies to complete the cleanup.” she said. The reasoning behind hiring local companies was to start infusing some cash into local businesses for services and also hire a local work force who would see and understand firsthand the reclamation project along with the overall mine project.
The new engineering and clean up of the existing tailings site will ensure that all storm water remains on site and does not get into local aquifers of the town. The water that does build up onsite is then processed through the wastewater treatment plant onsite and is processed until it is clean enough to send to the farmers in the New Magma Irrigation district near the Florence – San Tan Valley area. The water sent to the irrigation district is monitored several times to ensure that the nothing in the water will damage the fields or the crops that the water is used on.
Currently Resolution Copper is working on the Lower Smelter Pond (LSP) reclamation. This is the area closer to Main St. and passersby can see the work being done. The contracts for that work have been awarded to Superior Environmental, Oddonetto Construction and Albo Guzman Trucking. The workers are all from Superior and the surrounding areas.
The process of reclaiming this area has involved digging much deeper than most have expected. The contaminated dirt is moved to older tailing piles on the far northwest side of the property. The land reclaimed will be filled with clean dirt and native vegetation will be planted on the reclaimed area. The open tailing piles where the contaminated dirt will be taken will eventually be closed once all the old contaminated sites on the property are reclaimed then those tailing ponds will be capped and the area will be reclaimed and that area will be revegetated with native plants.
The company expects to complete the reclamation process by 2020. For those wishing to see the reclamation process up close, Resolution Copper is hosting public tours of the area on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2015. You can RSVP for the tour at 520-689-3409 or email info@resolutioncopper.com.
Mila Besich is a resident of Superior with two children. She volunteers for many local organizations. She is an experienced fundraiser and event planner for Copper Corridor Economic Development Coalition. She covers some of the area town councils and schools.
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