Intermountain Region

Introduction

Welcome to the Intermountain Region's Mine Cleanup Program web site, a portal to information and related management and research activities across the Region.

Overview

Mining has played a major role in the past 150 years in the American west. It is a recognized fact that some of these abandoned and inactive mine sites have negatively impacted the air, soil, and water resources. This environmental degradation has occurred in many forms including:

• Acid mine drainage
• Contamination from milling/smelting wastes and waste rock dumps
• Erosion from disturbed areas

Chemicals used in mineral extraction and equipment maintenance are often found abandoned on site or disposed of improperly in underground workings. In addition, physical hazards, including mine shafts, adits and winzes, as well as dangerous building structures, explosives, and equipment exist at many of these sites.

The Intermountain Region of the USDA Forest Service is attempting to address these environmental and safety concerns through an extensive abandoned mine identification, cleanup and closure program. Two regulatory authorities (tools) are used for the implementation of this program. One is the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) for those sites where there is a release or threat of release of hazardous substances. The other is the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for sites where reclamation and safety closures occur.

A number of projects have been undertaken in the Region the past couple of years. These projects would not have been attainable without the commitment and assistance by the Environmental Engineering, Geology and Minerals, and Watershed staffs in the Washington, Regional, and Forest offices. Another major player in the program’s success is the USDA Office of General Counsel for the legal support. Also, the Office of Environmental Excellence in the USDA have truly put this program in the forefront involving Congress, Office of Management and Budget, and other agencies.

The Minerals and On-Scene Coordinators staff on the Forests have been vital in their commitment in taking on these abandoned mine sites on the ground. And, finally, states, federal agencies and tribes have assisted without hesitation in addressing mixed ownership sites, natural resource damages, and other complexities. The agencies include the Environmental Protection Agency; States of Idaho, Nevada, California, and Utah; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Bureau of Land Management; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.