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Professional Paper 1652

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Integrated Investigations of Environmental Effects of Historical Mining in the Basin and Boulder Mining Districts, Boulder River Watershed, Jefferson County, Montana

Edited by David A. Nimick, Stanley E. Church, and Susan E. Finger

Prepared in cooperation with the USDA Forest Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
thumbnail image of report's Cover. View from Eva May mine looking across Cataract Creek valley at Hoodoo Creek drainage. Photograph by D.A. Nimick.

The volume comprises text chapters (listed below) and a CD-ROM of data (contents shown in column at right).

 

The Boulder River watershed in Montana is one of many watersheds in the western United States where historical mining has left a legacy of acid mine drainage and elevated concentrations of potentially toxic trace elements in surface streams. U.S. Geological Survey scientists have completed a major assessment of the environmental effects of historical mining in the Boulder River watershed. The study demonstrated how the watershed approach can be used to assess and rank mining affected sites for possible cleanup. The study was conducted in collaboration with State and Federal land-management agencies.

 

 

This book is available for purchase at Information Services, U.S. Geological Survey (1-888-ASK-USGS).

 

 

Version 1.0

Posted April 2007

Database from Volume's accompanying CD-ROM.


Volume comprises Chapters A, B, C, D1–D10, E1–E3, F, and G.

Front Matter (* 20 MB)—incudes a Volume of Contents, which is defined below:

  • A. Summary and conclusions from investigation of the effects of historical mining in the Boulder River watershed, Jefferson County, Montana (5.7 MB)
    By U.S. Geological Survey
  • B. The Boulder River watershed study, Jefferson County, Montana (1.7 MB)
    By Stanley E. Church, David A. Nimick, Susan E. Finger, and J. Michael O’Neill
  • C. Synthesis of water, sediment, and biological data using hazard quotients to assess ecosystem health (576 KB)
    By Susan E. Finger, Aïda M. Farag, David A. Nimick, Stanley E. Church, and Tracy C. Sole
  • D. Watershed-Scale Characterization and Investigation of Processes Responsible for Environmental Effects of Historical Mining
  • D1. Geologic framework (1.6 MB)
    By J. Michael O’Neill, Karen Lund, Bradley S. Van Gosen, George A. Desborough, Tracy C. Sole, and Ed H. DeWitt
  • D2. Geophysical characterization of geologic features with environmental implications from airborne magnetic and apparent resistivity data (4.9 MB)
    By Anne E. McCafferty, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Bruce D. Smith, and Tracy C. Sole
  • D3. Mine inventory (186 KB)
    By E. Paul Martin
  • D4. Metal leaching in mine-waste materials and two schemes for classification of potential environmental effects of mine-waste piles (2.4 MB)
    By David L. Fey and George A. Desborough
  • D5. Trace elements in water in streams affected by historical mining (3.2 MB)
    By David A. Nimick and Thomas E. Cleasby
  • D6. Quantification of metal loading by tracer injection and synoptic sampling, 1997–98 (925 KB)
    By Briant A. Kimball, Robert L. Runkel, Thomas E. Cleasby, and David A. Nimick
  • D7. Short-term variation of trace-element concentrations during base flow and rainfall runoff in small basins, August 1999 (292 KB)
    By John H. Lambing, David A. Nimick, and Thomas E. Cleasby
  • D8. Trace elements and lead isotopes in streambed sediment in streams affected by historical mining (2.9 MB)
    By Stanley E. Church, Daniel M. Unruh, David L. Fey, and Tracy C. Sole
  • D9. Hydrogeology of the Boulder River watershed study area and examination of the regional ground-water flow system using interpreted fracture mapping from remote sensing data (* 55 MB)
    By Robert R. McDougal, M.R. Cannon, Bruce D. Smith, and David A. Ruppert
  • D10. Aquatic health and exposure pathways of trace elements (2.3 MB)
    By Aïda M. Farag, David A. Nimick, Briant A. Kimball, Stanley E. Church, Don Skaar, William G. Brumbaugh, Christer Hogstrand, and Elizabeth MacConnell
  • E. Case Studies of Mining Sites within the Boulder River Watershed Study Area
  • E1. Understanding trace-element sources and transport to upper Basin Creek in the vicinity of the Buckeye and Enterprise mines (2.8 MB)
    By M.R. Cannon, Stanley E. Church, David L. Fey, Robert R. McDougal, Bruce D. Smith, and David A. Nimick
  • E2. Monitoring remediation—Have mine-waste and mill-tailings removal and flood-plain restoration been successful in the High Ore Creek valley? (2.6 MB)
    By Sharon L. Gelinas and Robert Tupling
  • E3. Geologic, geophysical, and seismic characterization of the Luttrell pit as a mine-waste repository (2.9 MB)
    By Bruce D. Smith, Robert R. McDougal, and Karen Lund
  • F. Evaluating the success of remediation in the Boulder River watershed (65 KB)
    By Susan E. Finger, Stanley E. Church, and David A. Nimick
  • G. Digital databases and CD-ROM for the Boulder River watershed (1.4 MB)
    By Carl L. Rich, David W. Litke, Matthew Granitto, Richard T. Pelltier, and Tracy C. Sole
    •


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    Last modified: Tuesday, 06-Apr-2007 11:43:16 EDT