EPA completes pump test at Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel

Posted by egable on June 4th, 2008 filed in Water, Mining

The Environmental Protection Agency has concluded a successful pump test of the relief well at the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, agency officials announced today.

The test was designed to help EPA better understand how the flooded underground mine workings would react to pumping, the optimal rate of pumping and the appropriate size for the permanent pump.

Because the pipeline designed to convey water from the relief well to the Bureau of Reclamation’s water treatment plant has not been completed, water pumped from the relief well during the test was discharged into a temporary pond. The unlined pond allows the water pumped into it to seep back into the soil and also contains an overflow pipe that discharges water from the pond when the water reaches a certain level to prevent damage to the dam.

EPA is still on schedule to have the relief well operational by mid-June. At that time, water will be pumped from the relief well with the temporary pump and transported via a pipeline to the Bureau of Reclamation’s water treatment facility at the mouth of the tunnel, where it will be treated and released into the Arkansas River.