Gold King Mine Blowout (Conclusion)

Conclusion

The Gold King Mine blowout was a significant disaster in Colorado and probably will continue to be in the future. On August 5th, 2015, approximately 3 million gallons were spilled from the mine site as workers were trying to add a tap to the tailing pond for the mine. The disaster has opened more eyes in the abandonment of mines and how disastrous and dangerous the practice can be towards the environment around it. 

For additional information you can go to: http://www.hcn.org/articles/acid-mine-drainage-explainer-animas-pollution-epa-gold-king 

Gold King Mine Blowout (Works Cited)

Bastasch, Michael. "Colorado Official Says EPA Lied About Gold King Mine Spill." The Daily Caller. 13 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Chief, Karletta, Janick Artiola, Sarah Wilkinson, Paloma Beamer, and Raina Maier. "Understanding the Gold King Mine Spill." Superfund Pharmacy Arizona. Superfund Research Program, 1 Nov. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Gold King Mine Owner: 'I Foresaw Disaster' - CNN.com." CNN. Cable News Network, n.d. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

"Gold King Mine Water Was Headed for the Animas, Anyway." - High Country News. N.p., 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Kirkemo, Harold. "Gold Prospecting in the United States." Gold Prospecting. Geology.com. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

"Little-Known Facts About The Importance of Silver in Technology."Scottsdale Bullion Coin. N.p., 09 Oct. 2013. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Paul, Jesse. "Gold King Mine: EPA Was Told of Blowout Danger in June 2014." - The Denver Post. The Denver

"Technical Evaluation of the Gold King Mine Incident." Usbr.gov. Reclamation, Managing Water in the West, 1 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Thompson, Jonathan. "Gold King Mine Water Was Headed for the Animas, Anyway." - High Country News. 28 Aug. 2015. Web. 13 Jan. 2016.

Gold King Mine Blowout (Background Information)

The Gold King Mine is located in the mountainous state of Colorado. Colorado has many unique landforms: the Great Plains in the east, the Rocky mountains dividing the state, and the Colorado Plateau region. The plants and animals in Colorado are usually very adaptive because of the changing weather. The mining done on the Gold King mine is subsurface mining, digging tunnels (or shafts) into the earth to reach the ore and bringing the ore up through the tunnels. Even though the EPA has taken responsibility for the blowout, Mr. Hennis is the owner of the company that owns the mine. He says that he foresaw the disaster but knew the EPA was in control (Gold King Mine Owner: 'I Foresaw Disaster').

Garrison, Steve. Silverton, Colorado Waste Continues to Spill. 2015. Silverton, Colo. Abqjournal.com. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.

Like mentioned before, the minerals mined from the Gold King mine were mostly gold and silver. Gold is obviously a very important aspect to the economy because they are worth a lot of money. Right now, gold is worth around $1320 an ounce. Silver is used in many resources such as solar energy, electronic devices, water purifiers, and bandages (Little-Known Facts About The Importance of Silver in Technology). 

Gold King Mine Blowout (Introduction)

The Gold Mine blow out occurred in Silverton, Colorado in August of 2015. It was a huge disaster causing acid mine drainage. This subsurface mine used tunnels which allowed water to leak in which initially caused the blowout. The mining done on this mine was to extract gold and silver. This mining blowout story that caused environmental disaster is very interesting and informative about some negative effects of mines (Gold King Mine Water Was Headed for the Animas, Anyway).

Waste Water Continues to Stream out of Gold King Mine. 2015. Silverton, Colorado. Theepochtimes.com. Web. 

Gold King Mine Blowout (Discussion)

Discussion

     The mineral extraction and processing methods used in the Gold King Mine were subsurface mining techniques such as tunneling and the use of mine shafts (Kirkemo). These methods can cause environmental degradation and pollution as acid mine drainage occurs. The water from the sky drains into the faults and holes and they run over deposits of pyrite or iron sulfide. Because the mine is normally really rich in oxygen, a chain of reactants occurs and one of the products is sulfuric acid.The result is acid mine drainage which messes with the PH of the water, and harms fishes and life in the nearby waters. It is harmful and irreversible (Thompson).


EMCBC Mining and the Environment Primer: Acid Mine Drainage. 2006. Mining Watch. Web. 14 Jan. 2016.
 

Short term results have occurred because of the spill. Cement Creek which is typically used for recreation and agriculture; as of September 15, 2015, was not meeting regulatory standards for agriculture due to elevated copper and zinc. Additional problems that have occurred is that many of the irrigation intakes close to the spill were closed for a long time and so the crop yields of many Navajo farmers were dramatically impacted. (Chief) 

     Environmental restoration has been proposed and taken place to clean up the mine waste damage. In May of 2015 the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) said they wanted to “de-water” the mine and remove blockages to prevent any blowout danger. Documents show that the work crew was supposed to remove loose rock from the Gold King’s portal bit by but while also pumping out the backed up waste water inside the mine. Then the waste was to be directed to the Red and Bonita Mine, lower in elevation, where the EPA and contractors already had set up treatment areas to prevent contaminants from entering the watershed.

Also the plan says that the crew was to step up structures at the portal to prevent a blowout, and also to install a gate at the portal that could be locked as part of blowout prevention for the future. But not much has happened because the conditions in the mine were a lot worse than they thought. Waste water is still flowing out of the mine but the EPA is treating the sludge below the mine through a series of sediment ponds and say they plan to construct a commercial water treatment apparatus before winter. (Paul)

     There are written mine regulations about what companies need to do which say that “prior to excavation near impounded water in flooded abandoned mine workings…” a mining company is is required to look at the extent of the water nearby and the location to determine safety measures to protect against water seeping into the excavations (holes). But, many of these companies can file bankruptcy and leave the mine abandoned which is a safety hazard. The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Act was implemented in 1976 and applied to all of the types of mining in the state, working to fix land that was abandoned or closed. Additionally, the  Watershed Approach would be applied by evaluating the abandoned mines in the watershed, giving priority to reclaiming those that were causing the most significant shares of the pollution, especially those significant polluters that could be easily reclaimed. Its these laws and regulations that have been picking up the Gold King Mine and helping to restore the area. (Technical)

Before and After. 2015. Wattsupwiththat. Web.

     EPA claimed state experts signed off on its plan to put a drainage pipe in Gold King Mine to prevent waste water from leaking uncontrollably out of the mine and there’s that conflict between Colorado and the EPA because some officials are stating that “the investigation’s conclusions into the events surrounding the discharge were not consistent with our staff’s involvement and we felt it important to make sure the investigators were aware of our perspective,” King wrote to EPA.” Mike King, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. There’s also economic issues in cleaning up the mine waste in the rivers because the Gold King Mine blowout could cost taxpayers as much as $28 billion to clean up over the years, but it’s unclear if all of the wastewater can be taken out of the rivers. There are social tensions happening between the Navajo Nation and the EPA as they took a long time to respond to the contamination of their rivers and the Navajo Nation has claimed to be used to historical mistreatment by companies. (Basatsch)