ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF HAZARDOUS MINING WASTE SITES

Mining wastes represent a significant challenge for effective management due to its huge volume and presence of hazardous and toxic materials. Mined lands at a particular hazardous waste site may encompass hundreds to thousands of hectares of land area containing several million cubic meters of impacted materials. This staggering areal and volumetric nature, together with the complex chemical make-up of mining wastes is not amenable to rapid remediation. Adding to the complexity, most large mining sites also have extensive areas of surface water and groundwater contamination that often include impacts to drinking water sources. Moreover, receiving water bodies such as streams, rivers, and lakes are typically impacted in addition to their bed loads and sediments. Smelting is also a typical activity at many mining sites and this process often results in the eolian deposition of fine-grained contaminants over vast geographic areas which may include population centers. The funding, staging, and prioritization of necessary remediation actions represent significant economic, societal, and political challenges. The Tri-State Mining District, which produced 482 million (metric) tons of Pb and Zn ores during its 120-year life, covers about 65,000 km² area in southwest Missouri, northeast Oklahoma, and southeast Kansas in the central United States. The complex nature, associated problems, and management challenges associated with a mega Superfund site are discussed using the Kansas portion of the Tri-State Mining District-the Cherokee County Superfund Site-as an example.