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Mercury rising: Inactive mines have left a mess behind

Posted by: Maven on July 30, 2009 at 7:50 am

From the New Times:

“Wind rustled short stalks of dry, brown grass at the abandoned mercury mine just outside of Paso Robles.

What used to be 320 acres of mercury mining operations is now known as the “Klau/Buena Vista Mine” and it’s the site of a federal attempt to keep mercury from spreading more than it already has. The derelict site, a relic of the mercury mining boom when gold was plentiful, looks like a ghost town. Grass spread around old rusted buildings and a stripped-down pickup truck. During a recent visit, gusts grabbed loose sheet metal roofing and repeatedly slapped it down, sending a rhythmic “thwack” bouncing through the small valley.

Mineral salts, heavy metals, and iron oxides left by contaminated runoff had turned much of the ground a strange marbled red-and-white color.

“I wouldn’t kick up a lot of dust,” Jim Sickles warned a visitor on a recent tour. Sickles is a project manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the agency taking lead in the cleanup effort for the Buena Vista Mine. … “

Read more from the New Times by clicking here.

July 30, 2009 · Filed Under Groundwater, Water Quality

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