Lethal Legacy Wealth Long Gone, But Tons Of Tailing Remain On Toxic Site

Forty years ago, the Holden Mine closed after a 20-year stint that produced $66.5 million in gold, copper and zinc.

The wealth has long since been dispersed, but the mine’s poisonous legacy lives on in three mounds of tailings that taint the waters of nearby Railroad Creek, which empties into Lake Chelan 10 miles downstream.

Holden Mine began operating in 1937. It was the state’s largest copper mine until 1957, when the price of copper plunged 50 percent, from 47 to 24 cents per pound. The mine was closed as unprofitable. The little town of Holden was deeded to the Lutheran Church and became Holden Village, an interdenominational retreat.

But the mine left behind 8 million tons of tailings, piled in three orange-streaked mounds that look like 100 acres of sand. The streaks are caused when sunlight hits the mixture of minerals and metals still in the piles - mostly iron with traces of zinc, copper and nickel.

The minerals seep into Railroad Creek and other nearby waterways, killing the tiny creatures that provide the main source of food for rainbow and cutthroat trout. The once-thriving ecosystem is now considered part of a toxic site.

A 1989 assessment of Lake Chelan commissioned by the state Department of Ecology said iron concentrations in Railroad Creek were considerably higher than those of other areas along the lake.

It also suggested Railroad Creek contributed 80 percent of the zinc in Lake Chelan.

“These zinc levels may produce chronic and possibly even acute effects to aquatic life,” the report concluded.

U.S. Forest Service personnel say they’ve seen the results.

“Railroad Creek contributes 15 percent of the water into Lake Chelan,” said Chelan District Ranger Al Murphy, who is helping nurse the creek back to health.

“So it would be reasonable that the creek should provide 15 percent of the fish habitat. But instead it’s almost none.”

The Forest Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Ecology all have a hand in a reclamation project to correct damage done by minerals leaching from the mounds.

Initially, there were efforts to push some of the tailings back into the miles of mine shafts. But water pushed it back out again.

In 1990, rocks were placed along the mile-long base of the tailings, where they meet the creek. This stopped the creek from undercutting the piles, but it didn’t stop the leaching of minerals into the creek, Murphy said.

In 1991, the tailings were covered with lime and 4 inches of gravel to hold down metal dust. Windblown dust was so thick at times it wore away wooden fences and caused breathing problems for residents.

This $3 million cleanup, paid for by a U.S. Agriculture Department fund and contracted to Del Hur Industries of Port Angeles, was meant to stabilize the tailings.

But it wasn’t a permanent solution, Murphy said.

“We were very successful in dealing with the immediate threat of the air and water pollution from the dust,” he said.

“What we weren’t able to correct with that project was the long-term threat of the leaching. That project was kind of a first-phase thing dealing with the physical stability of the tailings. Then came dealing with the chemical problem.”

Then the Forest Service started vegetation islands: placing heaps of soil on top of the gravel-covered piles. Acid-tolerant trees, grasses and shrubs were planted on the soil and directly on the gravel as officials tried to figure out what kinds of vegetation would stop the leaching.

So far, 35 species of vegetation have been tried, Murphy said. Experiments have shown that lupine don’t stop the leaching. Alder bushes, blue bunch wheat grass and ponderosa pines do.

“We’re trying for bioremediation,” he said. “The organic matter we plant here will ‘lock up’ with the metals and stop the flow into the creek.

“We don’t care if the trees ever really grow - the idea is to get organic material back on site.”

Wells on each mound of tailings measure the water’s chemical content and acidity. They show preliminary signs of recovery - evidence that the investment is paying off, Murphy said.

So far, about $4.5 million - mostly from Forest Service funds for toxic sites - has been invested in stabilizing the site. Murphy expects more money will be allocated now that there some positive results.