Demonstration of Subaqueous Disposal of Mill Waste Dave Hinrichs, NewFields Mark Doolan, U.S. EPA Chris Wienecke, ATT Sunoco and Jasper County Group R. Fischer and K. Tegtmeyer, NewFields

Mill Waste Characteristics Chat – from Barnsdall No. 3 mine, Kansas Tailings – from Barnsdall No. 2 mine, Missouri Tailings - net-alkaline, permeability 2 x minimal ARD Tailings – lab 0.03 ft/ft vertical settlement Concentrations in tailings backfill –Zinc = 18,730 mg/kg –Lead = 570 mg/kg –Cadmium = 130 mg/kg

Subsidence pit at Remedial Soil Repository West of Prosperity

Jasper Co. Site Subsidence Pit at North Edge of Remedial repository

Jasper Co. Site Subsidence Pits Subsidence Pit South of Carterville off of Lewis St.

Jasper Co. Site Subsidence Pit West of Carterville Off of Wilson St.

Existing Site Conditions

Subaqueous Disposal Theory Place waste in the saturated zone, cap and reduce oxygen by 10,000x Establish reducing/anaerobic conditions to reduce or eliminate ARD and metals release Lower disposal and O & M costs Eliminate pit as trash dumping site Eliminate as storm runoff metal load source

Expected Results of Subaqueous Disposal Short-term zinc loading to aquifer Shift from strongly oxidizing to reducing conditions, i.e., lower eH Increase in pH to mildly alkaline Greatly reduced rate of sulfide oxidation, ARD, and metals release compared to above-ground repository

Subaqueous Disposal Setting

Mechanisms for Metals Release in Subaqueous Setting Short term –Dissolution of reactive secondary minerals Long term – Stable sulfide minerals, d ependent on final eH and pH conditions

Galena Leach Study

Subaqueous Field Demonstration Jasper County, Missouri Selected P4 Pond at Freehold mine in Kansas Installed two monitoring wells in Boone aquifer MDNR conducted dye tracing study Collected 2 rounds of baseline samples, pre-backfill Backfilled 200 ft x 200 ft x 35 ft pit Installed Well P4 Central in July 2002 Collected 4 rounds of post-backfill samples NewFields prepared summary report, Dec. 2003

Demonstration Site Map

Pond P-4

Site Conditions Shallow aquifer confined; gradient est. = Local shale hydraulic gradient est. = 0.01 Pit depth 35 feet; Penn shale 75 feet thick Freehold mine depth of ft in Miss. limestone Pond water level 2 – 13 feet higher than shallow aquifer, poor hydraulic inter-connection Water levels in pits showed dramatic rise and fall with storm events

Pit Filling Filled pit with 58,500 yds 3 of chat and tailings March - July 2002 Surcharged to plus 4 feet Capped with 1.5 ft of topsoil Volunteer revegetation

Pond 4 - filling

Pond 4 - Post Filling

Filled Pit

Filled Pit Monitoring Installed wells P4NW and P15E Dec 2001 Collected 2 rounds of baseline samples, pre- backfill Installed Well P4 Central in July 2002 Collected 4 rounds of post-fill samples

Dissolved Zinc Concentrations

P4 Pond Redox

ZINC LOAD ESTIMATES

Conclusions Subaqueous disposal did not increase metal loading to shallow aquifer due to low permeability/poor connection Subaqueous disposal should substantially reduce metals loading to surface streams Post-remedy footprint reduced = lower O & M cost Jasper County FS includes subaqueous disposal as a permanent, moderate cost alternative to conventional cap and cover Placement of wastes in mine pits reduces pit associated hazards and illegal dumping

Pit Selection Prioritize pits that are or can be hydraulically isolated from shallow aquifer. Indicators: low or negative eH, low O 2, poor vegetation and aquatic community Rapid increase in water level if recharged Slow to recover when test-pumped Prioritize pits that pose physical hazards, are used as trash dumps, or offer marginal aquatic habitat.

Engineering Aspects With scrapers and dozers, cost $4.50/cy Tailings can be used in low-permeability caps and liners. Using chat only = higher predicted zinc loads; mix tails with chat or fly ash Predict consolidation before backfill Surcharge pits and/or allow time for settlement before placing the soil cap.