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Concrete-eating acid at former California mine
The Iron Mountain Mine acid draining treatment facility, the heart of the EPA effort to clean the site.
A few days ago, environmental scientists and representatives of the Environmental Protection Agency trudged through steaming toxic sludge at what the federal agency considers one of the worst Superfund sites in California. Iron Mountain, a former mine that is dripping with acid capable of eating away even specially resistant concrete, is outside Redding.
The mine shut down in the 1960s and has been closed to the public since.
But runoff from the site potentially threatens salmon in the Sacramento River, which is why the EPA closely watches a treatment facility that has kept the river clean and has kept pollution mostly at the mine, said Rick Sugarek, an EPA point person for a cleanup effort that has spanned more than 20 years.
About 2 percent of the original pollution continues to discharge from the mine, said Sugarek. And that's unlikely to change because there's simply no technology to get rid of it. The San Francisco Chronicle explains why that is, and how Iron Mountain became a hazard.
"This is a common problem at hard rock and coal mines - iron sulfide turns into sulfuric acid - but at Iron Mountain, it's 500 times more concentrated. It's more like battery acid coming out of the mountain," he told CNN.
The EPA spends $1 million a year on lime alone to help neutralize the acid, he said.
There are several dozen workers and contractors who do maintainence for the EPA on the plant. Even with stringent safety measures in place, workers have reported going home and their jeans falling apart, said Sugarek.
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I've had that problem with my jeans before, but it's usually after I had Mexican take-out.
Ouch!
What happened to the mining company that created this mess? I guess this is a case of privatize the profits & socialize the consequences. In this case to the tune of a million a year with no end in sight.
They should dump a couple hundred tons of baking soda in that old mine. That should take care of it.
This is what is called a negative externality, something Republicans and Libertarians fail to understand. It basically cause the economy to overproduce which creates and inefficient market.
The company was forced to pay $211 million. It'll cost $200 million to keep this site from leaking for the next 30 years.
What else is a lone, isolated mountain in California supposed to do besides drop acid?
ROFL
Best post EVER!! LMAO 🙂
Bottle this stuff and sell it!! There are many mfg'g uses for concentrated H2SO4. They can make over 1 million dollars back and save the tax payers $$. What is wrong with them?
Potent acid in Kalifornia? Who would have guessed?
Just dump truckloads of baking soda on it. Basic chemistry......
did you bother to read the article? they are already spending a million bucks a year doing just that
Read the article again. It said they are already dumping lime on the site to neutralize the acid. They were talking about calcium hydroxide [Ca(OH)2], not the citrus fruit.
Which article are you guys reading, because it's not in the one I read...
"The EPA spends $1 million a year on lime alone to help neutralize the acid, he said. "
I mean, it has it's own line all by itself in the story. Second-to-last paragraph.
Lime is primarily calcium carbonate. Calcium is fundamentally an alkaline, a soluble base. Most medical antacids use calcium carbonate, like Rolaids and Tums. Baking soda is also a base, but lime is a more heavy-duty neutralizer of acid.
That's it? Who edits this crap? Finish the story!
What are you waiting for...a "happily ever after" ending? Don't hold your breath.
Dont freet Barny Obama will come to the rescue with his check book as soon as he gets back from vacation
you spelled fret rong moran
Baking soda will not solve the problem. Nobody here knows acid base chemistry apparently. It cannot be bottled, as it is more than likely contained.
There's nothing in the article that says it can't be bottled. Most likely the value of the acid as a commodity is less than the cost of dealing with it in the present fashion.
Industrial grade sulfuric acid is 98% pure. What's coming out of that mine is likely far less pure ...
are you prfessor klump or reggie love
professor
"Former Mine" ? What the hell kind of double talk is that ? Is that like a former waterfall, or former continent, or former steel mill or former bridge ? What about a former politican ? Everyone knows what that is – NO SUCH THING !
kinda like a former comment
A mine that has yielded all of the mineral or resource for which it was originally dug is a "former mine." Or maybe you would prefer "hole in the ground."
Send Barry the carpetbagger up there. He has enough hot air that he should be able to blow the acid away
WHY DOES NO ONE SPEAK ABOUT THE HIGH-LEVEL TOXIC LEAKS FROM THE HANFORD NUCLEAR RESERVATION IN WASHINGTON STATE THAT IS HEADING FOR THE COLUMBIA RIVER?
Because THIS article is about something else. Do a Google about Hanford, you will find plenty.
because the government doesnt want it told.theyll let it be known after there are 4 eyed frogs and fish with extra tails.not to mention birth defects in children.then blame it on someone else.just as the sea creatures in the gulf are safe to eat.fossil fuels ,nuclear fuelare NOT safe.both contaminate the earth for yrs to come. it makes me wonder if greed has overridden our survival mode. because the people that do these things dont seem to have a thought about their childrenand grandchildren.mney doesnt buy clean air soil or water.
And stop SHOUTING AT US!
If it's so concentrated, can't it be put into containers and shipped for industrial applications? It's basically free right? Companies don't have to "produce it" if they could just "tap it".
Maybe they could fill old, used automobile batteries with the stuff and then drop palettes of them on enemy positions. It's a Win-Win-Win situation: we have a relatively cheap weapon, get rid of the toxic waste from the mine and dispose of a lot of old car batteries it would otherwise cost a lot of money to recycle.