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Potentially Toxic Tailings 

 Released Into Blackfoot River 



LINCOLN (AP) - State au- 

 thorities say heavy rains on 

 June 19 washed away part of a 

 dam made of old mine tailings 

 and sent potentially toxic ef- 

 fluent into one of western Mon- 

 tana's most popular fishing riv- 

 ers. 



Water-quality specialist Max 

 Botz of the state Department of 

 Health and Environmental Sci- 

 ences said it was not known 

 how much the adds storedin 

 the old Mike Horse Dam Had 

 poisoned the Blackfoot River. 



The dam is located alwut 18 

 miles east of Lincoln. 



Bot2 said he feared the tail- 

 ings would react with water to 

 form acids and to release toxic 

 metab. 



He said the department had 

 kept detailed water-quality re- 



cords which would help evalu- 

 ate the damage, but added the 

 assessment would take several 

 years to complete. ' 



"I can assure you there is su- 

 bstantial stream damage due to 

 the ruptured dam. ...We're hop- 



ing the effects won't be as bad 

 as it looks now," he said. 



The Anaconda Co. sent Frank 

 Laird, head of environmental 

 engineering of the General Min- 

 ing Division, to Butte on Thurs- 

 day. Laird was reported travel- 



ing to the old dam later in the 

 day. 



An Anaconda spokesman said 

 the firm was working on dam 

 repair and minimizing damage 

 to the popular waterway. 



rodfed dam poisons 

 Blackfoot River 



LINCOLN (AP) - State 

 authorities say heavy rains on 

 June 19 washed away part of a 

 dam made of old mine tailings 

 and sent potentially toxic ef- 

 fluent into one of western 

 MonUna's most popular 

 Bshing rivers. 



Water -quality specialist Max 

 Botz of the state Department of 

 Health and Environmental 

 Sciences said It was not known 

 how much the adds stored in 

 the old Mike Horse Dam had 

 poisoned the Blackfoot River. 



The dam is located about 18 

 miles east of Lincoln. 



Botz said he feared the 



■ tailings would react with water 

 to form acids and to release 



■ toxic metals Into solution. 



"I can assure you there is 



substantial stream damage 

 due to the ruptured dam ... 

 We're hoping the effects wont 

 be as bad as it looks now," he 

 said. 



An Anaconda spokesman 

 said the firm was working on 

 dam repair and minimizing 

 damage to the popular 

 waterway. 



Botz said the dam, formerly 

 owned by the White Hope 

 Mines, Inc., and purdiased by 

 Anaconda, was damaged when 

 torrential rains caused a 

 landslide which blocked 

 drainage outlets. 



With normal channels 

 plugged, water began to spill 

 over .the top of the tailings, 

 eroding a large gap. 



Company Says 

 Pollution Halted 



LINCOLN (AP) - The Anaconda Co. says it has 

 stopped the flow of possibly toxic lead and zinc mine tail- 

 ings into the trout-rich Blackfoot River from an eroded 



dam. 



Frank Laird, Anaconda's environmental engineering 

 chief, said the company is evaluating the situation to pre- 

 vent any future recurrence of the incident. 



The 50-foot-high tailings dam eroded and spilled spoils 

 into the river as heavy rains pounded large areas of western 

 MonUna. Officials said they first spotted the freed taUings 



I June 20. 



• "That big gash in the dam is down to bedrock, and the 



! creek is just going down through there now carrying very 

 fine material," said Uter Spence, a state Fish and Game 

 Department ecologist. 



"It's in those tailings where the problem is going to 

 " occur," Spense said, adding that cutthroat trout currently 

 are spawning in the upper Blackfoot River. 



A potential for extensive damage to the river exists be- 

 cause of oiidaUon of the metals along the stream, forming 

 adds and toxic metals in the water, Spence said. 



"When you see how bad it looks, it's hard to imagine it 

 won't have detrimental effects on the river," Spence said. 



According to Laird, construction crews began repair- 

 ing the dam last Monday. The crews repaired a diversion 

 ditch and beadgate and were to have water totally diverted 

 from the dam breach last Saturday, Laird said. 



"We will have to evaluate what we are going to do in 

 the future to prevent further channeling," Laird said. 

 "There are many alternatives, and they are all costly." 



Laird said the Mike Horse lead and zinc mine 

 apparently initiated the tailings pond about 1941. The dam 

 rose until the mine discontinued operation about 1953, he 

 said. The dam is located about 18 miles east of here. 



Spence said the current patchwork repairs will have to 

 be supplimented by a more complete solution guaranteeing 

 there will be no recurrence of the spillage. 



"I don't know the engineering answer," Spence said, 

 "but anything running into that pond now is going to come 

 out that hole." 



The ecologist called tailings ponds "timebombs that 

 are scattered wherever there has been mining, and which 

 are just sitting there waiting for circumstances to cause 

 something like this." 



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