Tar Creek Superfund Site Analysis

Introduction: The purpose of this research is to determine whether there has been a change in the overall water quality of the Lake Tarpon Basin, and if so, whether the quality has improved or worsened. The variables that will determine whether the quality has changed are: nutrients (phosphates and nitrates) and dissolved oxygen (DO). The expected changes are lower dissolved oxygen levels (from the already low levels), higher nitrogen levels (from the already high nitrogen levels), and the state qualifications still are not met for nutrients and dissolved oxygen (Levy, Flock, Burnes, Myers, Weed, River 2010). This topic relates to environmental management because the changes in water quality would be due to pollution, which relates to the question “How does human activity lead to the pollution of water stores?” The hypothesis that will be tested is that Lake Tarpon’s water quality will have worsened since the last measurements by Levy, Flock, Burnes, Myers, Weed, and Rivera in 2010.

Joint Base Cape Cod (JBCC) is located on Cape Cod. The JBCC is recognized as a Superfund site in 1989 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The base contaminated the groundwater in the surrounding towns. “Contaminated areas were the result of chemical/fuel spills, fire training activities, landfills, and drainage structures (cumulis.epa)”. The site is currently being cleaned up by the National Guard Bureau and the Department of the Air Force. The Air Force is cleaning one part of the base under Superfund. The Army is cleaning the other part under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The EPA is overseeing that everything is being cleaned to their set standards. Currently the Air Force holds public meetings to explain the results and new

cubic yards of contaminated soil make this site the one of the largest Superfund projects (EPA, 2013).

All the inhabitants of Flint communities regardless of their location had irreversible, permanent brain damage due to lead-contaminated water. It started when traces of E. coli and total coliform were found in the Flint River. The city addressed this problem by increasing chlorine levels in the water, causing the pipes to corrode, releasing lead into the waters. Total trihalomethanes (TTHM) were also formed in the water (they are carcinogenic to humans).TTHM is a disinfection byproduct that occur when chlorine interacts with organic matter in the water. At this stage, The lead levels in the water was 13,200 ppb. Water is considered hazardous waste at 5,000ppb (NPR 2016). This tragedy goes to show that this toxic runoff, or even the miss-handling of the water resources in a watershed can affect everyone as the downstream water was piped up into the upstream communities.

There are many factors that contribute to Idaho’s pollution problem, but mining may be the biggest. Mining is a huge industry in Idaho, hence the nickname “The Gem State”. The biggest product from Idaho’s mines is silver. Silver mines are some of the largest polluters in the state. Bunker Hill, or Silver Valley, as the Coeur d’Alene region is known for its numerous mines, was recently named a Superfund site. A Superfund site is a site under protection for removal of toxic wastes by the EPA. Although that beautiful valley was also once known for its abundant wildlife, now the rivers are flooded with phosphorous, selenium, zinc, lead, silver, cadmium, and arsenic, all from tailings of several mines in the region. Lake Coeur d’Alene now contains over 70 million tons of toxic waste sediments in its bottom. This pollution has endangered people in the area for years. In Smelterville, where a smelter ran for nearly 100 years, a large number of people have been diagnosed with health complications caused by extremely high levels of lead and other toxins in their blood. These conditions, for most, have existed nearly all their lives. Many remember being ill for most of their childhood and on. In 1973, before the smelter was closed, the average lead toxin level per deciliter of blood in children tested was 70. A reading of 10 is considered high alert. Rocky Hill, who grew up in Smelterville and

Assessments began to take place in the mid 1980’s, shortly after the site made the National Priorities list in 1983. Relevant standards and guidance levels were used to measure the effect of the Helen Kramer Landfill. The initiation of the EPA’s remedial investigation and feasibility study deemed the nature of the Helen Kramer landfill as an extreme risk to the environment, characterizing the site “by randomly placed, uncompacted, and uncovered refuse, with numerous settlement cracks which vented methane and water vapor” (2). According to the EPA, several million gallons of chemical wastes and over two million cubic yards of solid waste were estimated to have been disposed of at the landfill (2). Studies were performed by the EPA, New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, federal natural resource trustees in the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate the onsite and nearby environmental effects due to the landfill. During these studies, contaminants were detected in air, sediments, and aquifers, including high levels of volatile organic compounds and heavy metals in the air and sediments. VOCS and heavy metals expose humans to carcinogens, developmental toxicants, and reproductive toxicants. The assessments also detected numerous contaminants such as (but not limited to),

Prior to the late 1950s the site was used as an excavation pit for sand and gravel. The quarry was subsequently used for the disposal of waste materials from 1950 until 1966. 10 acres of the 28-acre site has been used as a disposal area for several hazardous waste contaminants that included volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as benzene, tetrahydrofuran, toluene, vinyl chloride and xylene; other organics such as phenols and PCBs as well as lead. The main area of contamination is in the southern half of the 10 acre area which encompasses about 6 acres which

Tar creek was finally put on the National Priority List for the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983 as the highest ranking priority (6). The project was originally considered to only be a water contamination issue, but later high levels of blood lead were discovered. This area was deemed a superfund site, which was 40 square miles that contained five towns around the Tar Creek area (6). The estimated cost of this project ranges from $540 million to a hefty $61 billion (5).

The next Superfund that has greatly influenced the environment of Butler County is the Skinner Landfill. The Landfill is on 85 acres in West Chester (2). The facility was privately owned and was never actually licensed, so it closed in the 1970's (5). The landfill contains about 100 drums of chlorinated organics, and heavy metals. Along with the presence of the drums is the fact that a nearby lagoon was once used as a disposal for these contaminants, and that the site had problems with unauthorized dumping (5). Fortunately, no contaminants have been discovered leaving the site (5). The presence of these

The Tar Creek Superfund site was once a large mining operation. The mine started in the early 1900s and was still in use until as late as the 1970s. The area was mostly minded for zinc ore and lead (Wilson). Many of the mines at this site had their own mills for the mineral separation process. Milling the lead and zinc ore created a large amount of waste. This wasted was in the form of gravel, dust, and debris. The milling process also created another type of waste know as mine tailings. Mine tailings also known as “chat”, are huge piles of pulverized rock that are left over after the target metals have been extracted from the mineral rocks that they are located in (Wilson). This separation was largely inefficient, especially in older mining operations. The result after this process left some of the metal-containing mineral left behind creating large above ground piles or being filled in pits are tailings ponds. A few of these above ground piles reached a height of 200 feet, containing high levels of lead and other dangerous substances. When mining came to an end, these huge piles of

The Buffalo Creek flood of West Virginia is believed to be the most devastating coal relate disaster in West Virginia history. The flood occurred in the Buffalo Creek area of Logan County on February 26, 1972 when three dams broke and released 132 million gallons of water and coal waste known by miners as “gob,” and is a thick sludge-like material. The gob contains many toxic chemicals and pollutants such as mercury and arsenic that are left behind from the coal mining process. The wastewater would lie in settling ponds and dams until it could be properly disposed of. The water that was left over from processing coal would be disposed of in two different ways. Some of the water would be pumped from the dam back to the “tipple”, otherwise

Water contamination is the next major concern of environmental groups. The Environmental Protection Agency, the governmental regulatory agency created in 1970 to manage the enforcement of environmental policy, states its concerns in a letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in 2009 (United). Specifically addressing mines in West Virginia and Kentucky, the EPA expressed serious concerns over water pollution from strip mining (“EPA”). The rupture of an ash dike at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston Fossil Plant in Roane County, TN on December 22, 2008 granted credibility to the EPA’s concerns. In an article published by in Environmental Health Perspectives, Rhitu Chatterjee comments on the poisonous substances contained in ash produced from processing coal, listing

The main pollutant of surface water in the mid-Atlantic region is Acid Mine Drainage, AMD, also called Abandoned Mine Drainage. AMD is a nonpoint source pollution that has degraded more than 4,500 stream miles, in just the mid-Atlantic region, due to the drainage of metal-rich water from mining activities (Jacobs). The runoff is extremely acidic due to the exposure of pyrite containing rocks, a sulfur bearing mineral (FeS2), during mining activities, and the chemical reactions associated with the contact of air and water with such rocks. As a result of such chemical reactions, sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is produced. Several chemical reactions take place and are as follows:

Tar Creek is an area that has been left behind by the American industry. After being mined for so many years, and literally they left nothing behind but dust. I believe this film was made to exploit the issues that we have in our country that go missed. So many times we over look our problems in our own country, caused by our government. The government gave this land to the Quapaw Indians and then bullied them to allow it to be destroyed by greedy business men which the government backed. To add to the issue children were hurt by it, families taken from their homes, land destroyed, and the government still ignores the situation.

I learned that mines were abandoned and in this case we have the responsible helping out. In other cases like the Gold King Mine in Colorado that it was used in the early 1900’s, the responsible that abandoned the mines were from Canada and are no were to be found. The problem with these mines is that when they extract all the uranium and there is no need for the mines, these mines need to be abandoned and closed. Unfortunately, there was no cleanup process when the mines were abandoned. Leaving the areas contaminated and the water from the rain transporting the contamination to other areas. 100 years ago, there was no standard on how to properly abandon a mine. Now days, the EPA and the state environmental departments are responsible to enforce the proper abandonment procedures and make sure the closure will not contaminate nearby areas or the water used for drinking, crops, and other human and animal uses. The runoff of the mine contamination can increase the total dissolve solids (TDS) in the nearby waters, making it non usable for human consumption and fish