Potential failure of the dam at Ore Knob Mine in Laurel Springs has brought action from representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency.

They explained the situation to local residents at a community meeting last week.

According to the EPA’s fact sheet on the mine, the federal agency was mobilized to the site in July 2007 to assess the situation. In March of this year, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation was assigned by EPA to do an inspection of the tailings dam and sediment pond below the dam to determine the severity of erosion, the likelihood of dam failure and overtopping of the sediment pond. An eminent risk of dam failure was determined due to a potentially collapsed or blocked drainage pipe within the dam.

This blocked pipe was noted during examinations of the former mine site beginning in 2000 when the Army Corps of Engineers in Huntington, WVa. came to assess the restoration of Peak Creek that runs into the South Fork of the New River.

A section of this creek has been devoid of aquatic life for decades as a result of copper mining at the Ore Knob Mine. It has been receiving attention through the Ore Knob Aquatic Ecosystem Restoration Project. The proposed restoration project involves water management, reclamation, and passive treatment to encourage aquatic life in the creeks.

Water management, said Corps Engineer John Preston in 2003, involves diverting water away from the tailings site by repairing an existing 24-inch pipe that was installed years previously in an attempt to clean up the site. The pipe is blocked and damaged, he said, causing water from above the mine site to back up and soak into the tailings area and react with the polluted soil to create the acidic water below the mine site.

In 2003, Corps engineers provided a detailed explanation on just how they plan to restore aquatic life to Peak and Little Peak creeks and Ore Knob Branch, whose sterilized waters are impacting the South Fork of the New River. The cleanup involves 14.3 acres of aquatic habitat, including 6.9 miles of Peak Creek and Little Peak Creek (designated trout waters), Ore Knob Branch, and the South Fork of the New River (outstanding resource waters).

What the EPA found recently is that severe erosion of the dam could expose mine tailings (waste dumping area) that could create hazardous substances in the surface water and sediment throughout Ore Knob Branch (1.5 miles) and Little Peak Creek (2.25 miles). The agency notes that the entire length of Ore Knob Branch, as well as a three mile section of Peak Creek to the South Fork of the New River is sterile, and the ecological impacts can be seen to within eight miles of the border with Virginia.

Much of the pollution in Peak Creek is coming from 20 acres of tailings, or land covered by refuse from the mine’s operations. Nothing will grow on this land and runoff has sterilized the surrounding creeks.

Copper mining began at Ore Knob in the mid-1800s and was brought to a brief halt near the end of the century. Mining operations were then undertaken in spurts between 1896 and 1927 before the mine was revived in the mid-1950s. It closed for good in 1962. The mine had produced more than a million tons of copper ore along with some silver and gold.

Preston said in 2000 that he is not sure the area will ever be restored, but with an effort by man and the help of Mother Nature, he believes it just might.

According to their fact sheet, proposed actions by the EPA include:

1) Perform a geotechnical investigation and stability analysis of the dam in order to determine the stability of the dam, thereby determining the proper method of minimizing erosion of the dam face;

2) Capping and abandoning the decant pipe that runs throughout the dam;

3) Construct diversion channels around the tailings dam in order to eliminate surface water run-on; and

4) Take adequate steps to obtain freeboard in the downstream sediment pond including excavation and treatment of contaminated soils, sediments and tailings or elimination of the sediment pond by solidifying the tailings in place.

The EPA notes that contractors have already begun removing tailing sludge from the sediment pond at the north end of the tailings dam. Work has been ongoing since October and is expected to go on for several months. Severe weather, such as heavy rain or snow, will temporarily halt operations, but work can continue in freezing weather.

The meeting at Peak Creek Community Center last Thursday attracted about a dozen local residents to hear an update from Terrence Byrd, on-scene coordinator, and Sherryl Carbonaro, community involvement coordinator. Also present was Brian Malone, contractor.

Byrd told those present that the EPA officials on site are an emergency response team there to deal with potential failure of the dam, which is 70 feet high and 700 feet wide. He also brought results for those who had not yet received them of water samples from their drinking water supplies. He noted that there had not been any finding of primary contaminants in the wells tested that would make water unsafe to drink.

The tailings, however, have been found to have high concentrations of numerous metals, including copper, zinc, iron, arsenic and mercury. This area is about 20 acres. The dam protecting water below the tailings area from contamination is eroding, and tailings have “slumped” over partially blocking the 24-inch pipe that directs water from Ore Knob Branch underneath the tailings into a sediment pond. That pond is full and cannot contain sediment from continuing down Ore Knob Branch. Seepage from the dam has high concentrations of aluminum, copper, iron, manganese, silver, zinc and sulfate.

Water is clean coming into the site, Byrd said, but becomes very acidic after traveling through the tailings area and coming back into Ore Knob Branch. He said the EPA hopes to restore Ore Knob Creek and Peak Creek if possible.

The first phase of the project involves taking up the sediment n currently the consistency of cake batter or pudding n and depositing it on top of the dam where it came from. Phase two involves building a divergent channel to move water around the dam, to get water out of the dam, and this may involve some blasting. The third phase involves capping the inlet so water will flow around the tailings site, regrading the slope with erosion control. After this, the EPA plans to check all 100 plus acres of the former mine site for acidity levels.

“We’re mainly here to stop the dam from failing,” Byrd said. “If this dam fails, we’ve got a bigger problem than what we currently have.”

Another group will be looking at water sources that run underground, he said. He is also hoping area residents might have old photos of the mine and mining site. Anyone interested in the project can visit the EPA trailer set up at the old mine site, and hopefully bring old photos that could help in gauging the situation.

“We really want to be a good neighbor here,” Byrd said. “We will be here for awhile. You can come by and sit down and we will answer all your questions. We don’t normally do projects of this magnitude, and I consider it an honor if we can clean up this site. So many people don’t care, and I’m glad to see people here care.”

Byrd also assured the residents that the areas used for hunting are still open, but they can’t allow people to go past the trailer into the mine site due to danger from slick surfaces and heavy equipment.

See more information at www.epaosc.net/oreknob.