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Conservationists host mine tailings expert to discuss Rock Creek mine project

This undated handout aerial photo shows Rock Lake in Montana's Cabinet Mountains. The Sandpoint-based Rock Creek Alliance and some officials fear a proposed mine beneath the wilderness area may open up faults that would cause lakes in the area to drain. Associated Press (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
By Rich Landers richl@spokesman.com(509) 459-5508
This undated handout aerial photo shows Rock Lake in Montana's Cabinet Mountains. The Sandpoint-based Rock Creek Alliance and some officials fear a proposed mine beneath the wilderness area may open up faults that would cause lakes in the area to drain. Associated Press (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
This undated handout aerial photo shows Rock Lake in Montana's Cabinet Mountains. The Sandpoint-based Rock Creek Alliance and some officials fear a proposed mine beneath the wilderness area may open up faults that would cause lakes in the area to drain. Associated Press (File Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)

WILDERNESS  — An expert in tailings dame engineering will discuss issues related to the Rock Creek Mine proposed along the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness in a free public program hosted by the Rock Creek Alliance at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 24 at Sandpoint Community Hall, 204 S. First Ave.

David Chambers a geophysicist with the Center for Science in Public Participation, will be giving the program again in Sandpoint at 9:40 a.m. on Aug. 25 Columbia Bank, 414 Church St.

The program “Tailings Dam Failures: Historical Record and the Potential for Future Failures and Fixes”
will cover results from other mines and how they relate to tailings Hecla’s Rock Creek Mine would store in the Clark Fork River drainage upstream from Lake Pend Oreille.

* This story was originally published as a post from the blog "Outdoors Blog." Read all stories from this blog