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Ref: EPR-SR 

UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION VIII 

999 18th STREET - SUITE 500 

DENVER, COLORADO 80202-2466 

323571 - R8 SDMS 

\ 52297T " 

A l l ISS4I9L 

I. HEADING 

Date: 

Subject: 

From: 

To: 

FINAL POLLUTION REPORT 

CALIFORNIA GULCH, OPERABLE UNIT VII 

June 30, 1998 

PUBLIC " 

DOCUMENT 

California Gulch Superfund Site, Operable Unit VII, 

Time Critical Removal Action at the Apache Energy & Minerals 

Property, August 1996 

Rebecca Thomaa s 

Remedial Project Manager 

Max H. Dodson 

Assistant Regional Administrator 

Office of Ecosystems Protection and Remediation 

POLREP No.: POLREP 1 & FINAL 

BACKGROUND 

NPL Status: 

Site No.: 

Action Memorandum Status: 

Category of Removal: 

Start Date: 

Demobilization Date: 

Completion Date: 

Final NPL 

COD980717938 

Approved August 8, 1996 

Time Critical 

August 8, 1996 

August 28, 1996 

March, 1997 

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SITE INFORMATION 

The California Gulch site (Site) was listed on the National Priorities List on 

September 8, 1983. The site is in a historic mining area covering 16 V£ square 

miles of a watershed that drains along California Gulch to the Arkansas River. 

Starting in 1859, the area was mined extensively for gold, lead, silver, copper, zinc, 

and manganese. Six impounded tailings dumps surround the city of Leadville, 

Colorado. Many smelters, located around the City, processed silver, lead and zinc 

at various times. Heavy metal residues are present in much of the Site. 

Approximately 7,400 people live in Leadville and Lake County. 

The Apache Tailings Impoundment is identified as Operable Unit 7 (OU 7) of the 

California Gulch Superfund Site. The Impoundment is located along California 

Gulch approximately 1,500 feet downstream of the Yak Tunnel Water Treatment 

Plant Surge Pond. The main impoundment encompasses approximately 11.3 

acres. There were two smaller impoundments identified as Tailings Pond 2 and 

Tailings Pond 3 (TP2 & TP3) located west of the main impoundment and directly 

north and adjacent to water flowing in the gulch. 

The Apache Energy & Minerals Property, the subject of this Time Critical 

Removal Action, is located at the south-east corner of Leadville, Colorado, northwest of the Main Apache Tailings Impoundment and south of Starr Ditch. The 

Property is also included in OU 7 of the Site. The Apache Energy & Minerals 

property is located very close to a residential area. There were many drums and 

bags of pyrite concentrate in the building as well as spilled concentrate wastes 

around the foot print of the mill site. The drums and bags were in poor condition 

and the building and its contents were an attractive nuisance. Casual users were 

potentially exposed to the pyrite both by the air pathway and by direct ingestion. 

The building was in poor condition which increases the potential for injury during 

casual use of the property. 

The Time Critical Removal Action for the Apache Energy & Minerals Property is 

described in an Action Memorandum dated August 8,1996. The document is 

entitled: Request for Removal (Response) Action at the Apache Energy & Minerals 

Property, Leadville, Colorado. 

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IV. RESPONSE INFORMATION 

A. Situation 

1. Current Situation 

The Removal Action began on August 8,1996 and was completed on 

August 28, 1996. The Removal Action included: 

1.1 The drums and bags of pyrite were transported to the Malta 

Tailings Impoundment (Leadville Silver & Gold site) for 

disposal. 

1.2 The building was decontaminated and demolished. 

1.3 The placement of the material at the Malta Tailings 

Impoundment was coordinated with final closure at the Malta 

Tailings Impoundment, Operable Unit 2 of the California Gulch 

Superfund Site. 

This Removal Action is described in a document entitled: Final 

Construction Report to the Environmental Protection Agency on 1996 

OU2/OU 7 Construction Activities, California Gulch NPL Site, 

Leadville, CO. The report is dated March, 1997 and was prepared by 

the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 

2. Removal Activities to Date 

2.1 This is the first Removal Action at OU 7. 

3.0 Enforcement 

3.1 On August 4, 1994, the United States District Court for the 

district of Colorado entered a default judgement in favor of the 

United States against Apache Energy & Minerals Co. as to 

liability. This default judgement was entered in accordance 

with an Order entered by Judge Jim R. Carrigan on 

July 27, 1994. This Order holds Apache Energy & Minerals 

jointly and severally liable to perform response actions as may 

be necessary to abate any imminent and substantial 

endangerment to human health, welfare, or the environment 

because of the actual or threatened release of hazardous 

substances at or from the Site. In its Motion for Entry of 

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Default Judgment against Apache Energy & Minerals Co. , the 

United States informed the Court that a determination as to 

Apache's liability "may void future problems associated with 

access to the Apache Tailings." EPA therefore undertook this 

action in accordance with its Motion For Entry and the Court's 

Order and Judgement. 

B. Planned Removal Activities 

A second removal action was performed by Asarco, Inc. at the Apache 

Tailings Impoundment in the fall of 1997. It has been addressed in a 

separate POLREP. 

C. Next Steps 

C.1 A revised Feasibility Study will be submitted in the fall of 1998. A 

Proposed Plan describing the selected remedy will be developed and 

made available for public comment. 

C.2 A Record of Decision for OU 7 is scheduled to be completed in 1999. 

Remedial Design and Remedial Action will follow. 

D. Key Issues 

The Removal Action at the Apache Energy & Minerals Co. Property is part 

of the overall remedial activities being undertaken in Operable Unit 7 

(OU 7). 

Removal alternatives to directly remediate surface water or groundwater in 

the vicinity of the Apache Tailing Impoundment are beyond the scope of the 

Removal Action. 

V. COST INFORMATION 

The cost for this action was approximately $60,000. 

VI. DISPOSITION OF WASTES 

No wastes were disposed of off-site. 

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