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British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium

Site specific risk assessments of two former copper concentrate shed sites near Topley, B.C. McKee, P. M.; Morris, N. P.; Nicholson, Ronald V.

Abstract

Falconbridge Limited owns two former concentrate transfer sites near Topley, B.C. The Sites were used for storage and rail shipment of Cu concentrate from the now closed Granisle and Bell mines. The Sites had other historic uses including road salt storage. Preliminary and Detailed Site Investigations were completed to evaluate the extent and degree of soil contamination, and site-specific risk assessments (SSRAs) completed to guide the development of Remediation Plans. At both sites, soils and groundwater contain elevated concentrations of Cu, salt, other metals and organic compounds. Groundwater modeling demonstrates that Cu is strongly attenuated by formation of poorlysoluble Cu carbonate along flow paths, so that no significant Cu contamination reaches the adjacent Bulkley River or neighbouring properties. This has been verified by groundwater and river monitoring. The SSRAs identified no potential human health risk to persons who access the properties or swim and fish in the Bulkley River. Ecological risks are confined to terrestrial receptors (plants and small wildlife species) assumed to reside within the most contaminated portions of the Sites. Risks to terrestrial biota are less than those calculated in the SSRAs due to habitat limitations. For aquatic biota, no significant risks were identified in the river. The SSRAs concluded that ecological benefit associated with remediation would be minimal, and that risks would remain low provided that the Sites are managed as “Brownfield” industrial sites. Long-term monitoring is appropriate to ensure that risks remain low.

Item Metadata

Title
Site specific risk assessments of two former copper concentrate shed sites near Topley, B.C.
Creator
McKee, P. M.; Morris, N. P.; Nicholson, Ronald V.
Contributor
British Columbia Mine Reclamation Symposium; University of British Columbia. Norman B. Keevil Institute of Mining Engineering
Date Issued
2006
Description
Falconbridge Limited owns two former concentrate transfer sites near Topley, B.C. The Sites were used for storage and rail shipment of Cu concentrate from the now closed Granisle and Bell mines. The Sites had other historic uses including road salt storage. Preliminary and Detailed Site Investigations were completed to evaluate the extent and degree of soil contamination, and site-specific risk assessments (SSRAs) completed to guide the development of Remediation Plans. At both sites, soils and groundwater contain elevated concentrations of Cu, salt, other metals and organic compounds. Groundwater modeling demonstrates that Cu is strongly attenuated by formation of poorlysoluble Cu carbonate along flow paths, so that no significant Cu contamination reaches the adjacent Bulkley River or neighbouring properties. This has been verified by groundwater and river monitoring. The SSRAs identified no potential human health risk to persons who access the properties or swim and fish in the Bulkley River. Ecological risks are confined to terrestrial receptors (plants and small wildlife species) assumed to reside within the most contaminated portions of the Sites. Risks to terrestrial biota are less than those calculated in the SSRAs due to habitat limitations. For aquatic biota, no significant risks were identified in the river. The SSRAs concluded that ecological benefit associated with remediation would be minimal, and that risks would remain low provided that the Sites are managed as “Brownfield” industrial sites. Long-term monitoring is appropriate to ensure that risks remain low.
Extent
789769 bytes
Genre
Conference Paper
Type
Text
File Format
application/pdf
Language
eng
Date Available
2009-06-05
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
DOI
10.14288/1.0042510
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/8825
Affiliation
Non UBC
Peer Review Status
Unreviewed
Scholarly Level
Other
Copyright Holder
British Columbia Technical and Research Committee on Reclamation
Rights URI
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International