Cyanide Leaching From Hecla Pond Prompts Action Forest Service Says Mining Company Is Cooperating In Jordan Creek Work

The U.S. Forest Service is pursuing emergency measures to prevent cyanide from leaching from Hecla Mining Co.’s tailings pond into Jordan Creek near Stanley, Idaho.

The pond is part of Hecla’s mothballed Grouse Creek Mine in central Idaho.

Jordan Creek has been designated “critical habitat” for endangered chinook salmon, and the Forest Service wants to get the work done before the creek hits low water levels this fall, said Rene Mabe, district ranger in the Salmon-Challis National Forest.

The agency proposes using sumps to collect groundwater flowing toward the creek and pump it back into Hecla’s system for treatment, Mabe said.

The Forest Service will use provisions of a federal act that allows it to speed the permitting process by doing verbal instead of written consultations with other agencies.

The act allows the agency to seek reimbursement from the company for the work done, Mabe said. But in this instance, Hecla will probably do most of the work itself, she said.

Hecla notified state and federal agencies when monitoring systems detected cyanide in Jordan Creek in late April, said company spokeswoman Vicki Veltkamp. The company has continued to work cooperatively with the agencies, she said.

Long term, the level of the tailings pond must be lowered, so the leak can be found and fixed, Mabe said.