Leviathan Mine getting Superfund designation

Tom Gardner

Thursday, May 11, 2000 | 10:22 a.m.

RENO, Nev. - An abandoned sulfur mine that periodically sends a toxic stew down the Sierra and toward the Carson River will be designated an official Superfund site, qualifying it for federal cleanup funds.

"This is fantastic news," Sen. Richard Bryan, D-Nev., said Wednesday. "The Leviathan Mine is nothing short of an environmental nightmare, but this assistance will finally help us correct the problem at its source."

Runoff into the abandoned sulfur mine in California's Alpine County periodically overflows, spilling heavy metals and other pollutants into Leviathan and Bryant Creeks, which ultimately feed the East Fork of the Carson River in Douglas County.

Bryan organized a tour of the mine site 25 miles south of Gardnerville in October at the request of the Douglas County Commission and was accompanied by Keith Takata, who heads the region of the Environmental Protection Agency's Superfund program that includes western Nevada.

Leaders from Douglas County and other downstream water users, including the Washoe Tribe, worry about the long-term effects of contaminants flowing into the Carson River tributaries.

Bryan said he was told late Tuesday by the EPA that Leviathan would receive the designation, which is reserved for the most polluted places in the nation.

The announcement was the second piece of good news regarding the mine this month.

Environmental officials said last week they were optimistic that control efforts combined with a mild winter would prevent the mine's evaporation ponds used to contain the poisonous runoff from overflowing for the first time in three years.

The ponds are holding about 15 million gallons of sludge with an additional 1 million gallons of storage capacity left.

A rust-colored medley of acids and heavy metals already has obliterated aquatic life in Leviathan Creek, including the federally endangered Lahontan cutthroat trout.

A Superfund designation would free more federal money for cleanup.

"This is only a very early milestone in what will be a long and challenging process to really clean up the mine," said Kevin Mayer, project manager for the EPA's Superfund program.

He said it would take at least two or three years for the parties involved in the cleanup to develop a plan.

He said the EPA would hold a public meeting May 24 in Gardnerville to discuss the designation.

"We still have lots of questions to answer and there's some questions we haven't even asked yet. The community really makes sure we play a role in asking all the questions that need to be asked," he said.

"One of the most difficult questions to ask at any Superfund site is, 'How clean is clean?' We would all like to be back to the way it was 100 years ago, but that is not usually a very realistic goal."

Mayer is hopeful that treatment of mine drainage can begin this summer, boosting the amount from the 4.5 million gallons treated in 1999 to up to 12 million gallons this summer to make overflow less likely next spring.

The mine produced copper sulfate from 1863 until 1872. It was reopened for a six-year period beginning in 1936 to produce sulfur and reopened in 1954 as an open-pit sulfur mine before shutting down for good in 1962.

Approximately 22 million tons of mineral-laden waste are piled over 200 acres along the creeks near the mine.