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Water Quality not improving at the Buckhorn Mine

Mine Seepage Exceeds Permit Limits; Violations Mount

The 2018 Annual Coordination Meeting at the Buckhorn Mine included a presentation from Dr. Ann Maest, OHA’s consulting aqueous geochemist. Dr. Maest has worked on Buckhorn issues for 25 years and is an expert on the environmental impacts of mining, working on projects internationally. In contrast to the water quality presentation given by Crown Resources, Dr. Maest took a critical look at the previous year’s data. In her presentation, Dr. Maest concluded that, despite ongoing mitigation measures at the mine, water quality was not improving in key locations at the site. The presentation focused on the water quality impacts of two contaminants of concern: sulfate and nitrate.

OHA’s technical expert, Dr. Ann Maest
OHA’s technical expert, Dr. Ann Maest, provides an analysis of the water quality monitoring data.

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Agency Documents

The public can access permit documents such as permits, fact sheets, and public notices through PARIS (the Permit and Reporting Information System). 

Buckhorn Mine Related Documents

Documents, including water right decisions, can be requested from Ecology

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Crown/Kinross 2015 Mine Report claims, “No Action Needed”

Kinross Plans Unapprovable

Each spring the company is required to report the results of monitoring activity. Once again the mining company has reported that “no action is required,” basically because it continues to ask the wrong questions. Lack of action on the part of the Department of Ecology has allowed Kinross to continue operating under outdated management plans, specifically the Adaptive Management Plan (AMP) and the Hydrologic Monitoring Plan (HMP). Two years ago, the current operating permit required updated plans that considered the water quality changes that occurred during the window of the first discharge permit. The AMP submitted by Crown Resources/Kinross Gold was basically the same as the one that has been in force from the beginning of operations, with no substantial reflection on its adequacy to address the current water quality issues. Ecology pointed this out, but has not required the follow-through that the permit requires. The company responded that what it submitted was adequate and that they would take no additional action…

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Taxpayers Vulnerable for Buckhorn Mine Cleanup Costs

Ecology takes steps toward independent review

Last November, Kinross submitted a plan to Ecology that purported to detail the amount of money required to satisfy the company’s environmental mitigation and cleanup requirements on Buckhorn Mountain. This plan, known as the Environmental Protection Performance Security Plan (EPPS), contains the narrative and numeric components of the mine’s environmental reclamation bond. During a careful review of the EPPS by OHA and its consultants, serious omissions and underestimations were discovered, leading OHA to the conclusion that the amount of money secured by the bond is inadequate to protect taxpayers from shouldering the environmental cleanup costs at the Buckhorn Mine, should Kinross fail to meet its obligations..

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Butterfly Field Trip – Gems that Fly

Butterflies are the quintessential symbol of renewal through change. In a world that is rapidly changing, the Highland Wonders educational series provides opportunities for our community to learn more about the natural world, with the hope that these experiences may renew our enthusiasm to take care of the rich biodiversity around us. 

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Era of Megafires

Things seem to be changing in the West – snowpack levels are lower than they used to be, and the snowpack melts earlier in spring. Fire seasons are longer and more severe. Megafires, wildfires over 100,000 acres, now occur more often, causing wide-ranging impact on homes, communities, and wildlands. These changes are expected to continue, and we need to increase the fire resiliency of our wildlands, while also completing defensible space work around homes and communities.

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One Stick at a Time: Climate Vulnerability & Forest Management in the West

Film Screening & Discussion

Beaver ponds on Lost Lake are storing water both on the surface and below

For the last year, Kent Woodruff, a retired US Forest Service biologist from Winthrop, has been engaging people across the west in discussions about what we can do to soften the impacts of climate change. As our already dry landscape and water resources become impacted by climate change, this topic will be increasingly relevant to our ecological and human communities.

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