The primary actions taken to date resulted in the excavation of lead and PCB-tainted soils in two areas on the site, removal of sediment from storm drains, and an ongoing removal of soil and drain pipes with radiological contamination. Public comments are welcome through July 9. An EPA Superfund site, the Berkeley Pit is an abandoned open-pit copper mine containing more than 20 billion gallons of tainted water. To address this problem, we developed a technology to remove toxic metal contaminants such as lead from acid mine drainage and, in the process, recover the economically valuable metals, like silver, copper and zinc. Known as polymer filtration, the patented Los Alamos technology couples unique water-soluble polymers with a process known as ultrafiltration.
Scientists use a homogeneous polymer solution that binds with metal ions in the wastewater.
The polymer-metal combination is filtered and concentrated using ultrafiltration. Clean water is discharged and the metals are recovered for disposal or refining when the acid level of the polymer solution is changed and the metal ions come unbound. There is no secondary waste or sludge stream - unlike that produced by hydroxide precipitation wastewater treatments. Instead of working with individual batches, the technology is designed to rapidly and continuously process mine wastewater. Painting and coating is the most polluting process of vehicle assembly.