Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Holden Mine Proposed Public Meetings

The scene at one of the Holden tailings piles, atop former wetlands.
Photo: Phil Fenner

From: Robin O DeMario <rdemario@fs.fed.us>
Date: Wed, 23 Jun 2010 08:03:51 -0700
To: undisclosed-recipients:;<Invalid address>
Subject: Holden Mine Proposed Plan Cleanup Fact Sheet
Hello,
You had asked to receive information about the Holden Mine cleanup process.  Attached below is a Holden Mine Proposed Plan Fact Sheet and a news release about upcoming public meetings.  Robin
 


U.S. FOREST SERVICE NEWS RELEASE
 
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
215 Melody Lane
Wenatchee, WA 98801

For immediate release:  June 23, 2010
Contacts:   Remedial Project Manager Norman Day, 509-664-9304 or Public Affairs Specialist Robin DeMario, 509-664-9292
Public meetings set to take comments on Holden Mine Site proposed Cleanup Plan
Wenatchee, WA—The USDA Forest Service, US Environmental Protection Agency and Washington State Department of Ecology have published a plan for the cleanup of environmental contamination at the former Holden Mine Site, located near Holden Village about 50 miles north of the city of Chelan.
The cleanup involves an inactive underground metal mine and mine waste piles in the Railroad Creek valley in the Wenatchee National Forest.
Public meetings will be held to inform the public about the proposed cleanup and to receive comments about the cleanup plan.  Public meeting schedule:

Date
Location
Time
July 12
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest headquarters office,
215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA
7:30 p.m.
July 13
Chelan City Hall, 135 East Johnson Ave., Chelan, WA
7:30 p.m.
July 14
Holden Village
8:00 p.m.
July 20
Hart Crowser Inc., office, 1700 Westlake Ave., North, Suite 200, Seattle, WA
7:30 p.m.


The public is invited to review the proposed cleanup plan and supporting documents on the web at http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/holden-mine/, or at Forest Service offices in Wenatchee and Stehekin, Wenatchee Public Library in Wenatchee, Chelan City Hall Library in Chelan, Holden Village, Seattle Public Library in Seattle, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency office in Seattle and WA State Department to Ecology Yakima office.  
Written comments on the plan can also be submitted to comments-pacificnorthwest-wenatchee-chelan@fs.fed.us or by mail to Norman Day, Holden Cleanup Project Manager, Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, 215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA 98801.
Cleanup will be accomplished under the federal Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) and Washington’s Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA).  
For more information about the proposed Holden Mine site cleanup plan, please call 509-664-9304.  

The mission of the USDA Forest Service is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the Nation’s forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and future generations. The Agency manages 193 million acres of public land, provides assistance to State and private landowners, and maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.
______________________________
Robin DeMario
Public Affairs Specialist
Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest
215 Melody Lane, Wenatchee, WA  98801
Phone:  509-664-9292
Fax:  509-664-9286
Follow us on Twitter at
www.twitter.com/OkaWenNF
_______________________________


For background on this issue, see our previous post: http://americanalps.blogspot.com/2010/06/holden-mine-cleanupremediation-update.html

5 comments:

Joan Neslund said...

About time!!! Only 9 months late!!

陳慧 said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

Despite what the release says, I don't see the Proposed Plan on the USFS website following the link provided.

Hard to provide public comment on a document you can't review.

Tom Hammond said...

This link In the article) works for me:

http://www.fs.fed.us/r6/wenatchee/holden-mine/

Having said that, the link itself talks about an "alternative 13", but there is no information on such an alternative in the document!
To wit (from the USFS):

"
Project Next Steps - Schedule
The major next steps for the Holden Mine Cleanup Project are displayed below. Before the Proposed Cleanup Plan (Proposed Plan) can be finalized, technical evaluation of results from the 2008 field investigations will be performed. The Proposed Plan will likely reflect a combination of remedy components from Alternatives 11 and 13. "

===

But there's no alt 13 that I can find.

Ragardless--all who read this please send comment(s), and note you want the most complete clean-up option regardless of cost and time! PLEASE COMMENT!

Tom Hammond said...

Check that--the link to submit comments is NOT WORKING! Well, that won't do.

non-working link:

http://www.comments-pacificnorthwest-wenatchee-chelan@fs.fed.us

I believe this should be an email address:

comments-pacificnorthwest-wenatchee-chelan@fs.fed.us

Please call this number and ask the USFS to fix the website. At the same time, tell them they cleanup option should be the one that emphasizes proper clean-up, even if it costs more, and takes longer. Proper cleanup is top priority!!