EPA begins pumping water from Leadville tunnel

Posted by egable on June 24th, 2008 filed in Water, Mining

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has begun pumping and transporting water from the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel in Lake County. Water is currently being pumped at a rate of approximately 1,000 gallons per minute and is being sent via a 4,700-foot long pipeline to a water treatment plant operated by the Bureau of Reclamation. The water, which contains elevated concentrations of dissolved metals, is being treated before being sent to the Arkansas River. Over the next several months, EPA will coordinate with the Bureau of Reclamation to monitor water volumes, water quality and treatment requirements to ensure that water is removed from the drainage tunnel safely and as quickly as possible, officials said.

EPA has been taking action to relieve the pressure associated with water trapped in the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel since February. The 70-year old tunnel lies approximately 350-feet below the surface and contains an estimated 500 million to 1 billion gallons of water that has become trapped behind various blockages. Efforts to remove this water have included securing access from property owners, constructing a drill pad, drilling the relief well, and clearing, trenching and installing nearly one mile of pipeline from the well site to the water treatment plant.

The Bureau of Reclamation is currently testing various pumping regimes to balance the water received from the new well and the water it has been treating since 1992 when the water treatment plant opened.