미국 환경보호청(EPA), 사법부, 럭키프라이데이광산의 오너 Hecla Limited가 사우스 포크 코들레인(Coeur d’Alene) 강의 본류 근처에서의 물 오염 위반과 관련한 합의에 도달했다. 이 강은 아이다호 북부 실버밸리(Silver Valley)를 통해 흐르는 강으로, Hecla는 합의문의 일부로 60만 달러의 벌금을 지불할 예정이다.

2009년부터 2014년 간 발생한 Hecla의 수질오염법 위반은 폐수제한위반과 코들레인강 및 강의 지류 두 곳으로의 비허용 배출을 모두 포함하고 있다.

 

 

 

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), U.S. Department of Justice, and Hecla Limited -- owner of the Lucky Friday Mine and Mill (LFMM), a deep underground silver, lead and zinc mine located in the Coeur d’Alene Mining District in northern Idaho -- have reached a settlement concerning water pollution violations near the headwaters of the South Fork Coeur d’Alene River. The river runs through the heart of North Idaho's "Silver Valley," ambitiously recovering from a century of mining pollution. Hecla will pay a $600,000 penalty as part of the settlement.

 

Hecla's violations, occurring between 2009 and 2014 at its LFMM, cover both effluent limit violations and unpermitted discharges to the SF Coeur d’Alene River and two of its tributaries. The company's Tailings Pond 3 was found seeping metals-laden water that it discharged into Harris Creek. During construction of Tailings Pond 4, Hecla failed to install adequate controls to ensure that stormwater runoff was properly managed, and soon turbid runoff destroyed a water intake at a downstream fish hatchery. In both cases, the company failed to properly report the event to EPA. In all, Agency inspections documented close to 500 combined (effluent limit, unpermitted and reporting) violations.

 

The South Fork Coeur d'Alene River is already severely compromised due to dissolved metals from historic mining activities. Major tributaries are devoid of aquatic life due to high concentrations of dissolved zinc and cadmium, while other areas only partially support fish and other aquatic species, offering migration routes but not spawning and rearing habitat. The LFMM operations are seen as the highest single contributor of metals to the South Fork above Mullan. The mine's NPDES permit limits were developed to ensure that operation discharges protect local fish and other aquatic life in the river and its tributaries.

 

[출처 = Water World / 2015년 6월 1일]