CDM News - August 2007 - (Page 5)

Left: (Before) Extremely steep slopes, like this one at the Turkey Run mine, required stabilizing, regrading, and capping the mine tailings, as well as rerouting drainage and piping water from one of the geothermal springs at the site. this complex project.” The design-build process provided flexibility for field decisions to meet established goals and address changes in conditions. The project included stabilizing the site, demolishing contaminated equipment and dangerous buildings, regrading and capping 300,000 cubic yards of mine tailings, and installing a new drainage system. Decontaminated historic mining equipment was donated to the Lake County Historic District. The team used innovative strategies to deal with the site’s steep terrain, geothermal springs, and lack of detailed characterization data. Robert (Bob) M. Cornez, CDM project manager, recalled, “We worked with EPA to develop a sound stabilization approach that reduced the need for offsite disposal of most waste materials. This included an innovative, cost-saving protocol for managing the 50-ton rotary kiln and related materials, which eliminated the need for post-stabilization monitoring and mitigated issues with the potential to reopen the site to regulation.” These are valuable considerations for other mercury sites as well. Wilking added, “A handheld X-ray fluorescence tool helped us identify the locations and levels of mercury faster and more cost-effectively than traditional sampling and analysis.” The onsite data collection was conﬁrmed through laboratory veriﬁcation. New Meets Old: Using Innovative Technology approaches, designing and implementing the solution cooperatively with the client and regulators, and managing the project strategically to a deﬁned end-point,” Evans commented. El Paso uses a unique remediation management system known as Project CLEAR to assess and manage risks and costs. “CLEAR was developed by El Paso to apply a consistent framework and strategic tools to site remediation, helping us evaluate the strengths and benefits of various cleanup scenarios. By using some of these tools here, we’ve been able to complete an expanded remediation scope—more than the regulators had proposed—while saving time and money,” Wilking explained. Cost savings under the approach used at these sites compared to a traditional agency-driven process range from $5.3 million to $7.8 million. Right: (After) Stabilization re-routed a geothermal spring for discharge to a lower drainage system, isolated mine materials from erosion, removed unsafe structures, and revegetated disturbed areas. The total cost to reclaim the site is projected to be $4.2 million, just twice the estimate of EPA’s emergency response alone for addressing only a portion of the site. “We helped El Paso avoid signiﬁcant costs by applying innovative technical A “CLEAR” Approach to Remediation The team addressed significant challenges: a compressed time frame, remote site, difficult topographic and geologic conditions, suspected presence of a threatened insect species, and involvement with multiple regulatory agencies—including EPA, the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, U.S. Bureau of Land Management, local county departments, and others. Cornez said, “We made it our mission to work cooperatively with all the agencies, under EPA’s lead, and develop solutions that are in the best interest of El Paso, while satisfying diverse regulatory objectives, accelerating the schedule, reducing costs, and protecting the environment.” Evans concluded, “The reclamation effort developed with El Paso represents a distinct water quality success story for the San Francisco Basin and provides a blueprint for other projects in California, as well as a process to meet future TMDL challenges elsewhere.” | Michelle S. Bernhart 5 Cooperation Overcomes Challenges

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of CDM News - August 2007

Contents Envisioning Tomorrow’s Dublin Initiative & Innovation Stabilize Mercury Mines Preserving Old Town Alexandria Taking a Hard Look at Concrete Corrosion Perspective: Harnessing Bioenergy Engineering Better Lives CDM Announces Award-Winning Projects People Highlights

CDM News - August 2007

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