Region 10 Cleanup: Midnite Mine Serving the people of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and 270 Native Tribes Recent Additions | Contact Us | Print Version Search: EPA Home > Region 10 > Cleanup Sites > Midnite Mine >

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Midnite Mine Public comment period open from May 20, 2009 to July 20, 2009. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) requests comments on its Public Health Assessment for Midnite Mine (PDF) (126 pp. 1.6MB). Comments must be submitted by July 20, 2009. Please address comments regarding this report to: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Attn: Records Center 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS F-09 Atlanta, Georgia 30333 You may contact ATSDR Toll Free at 1-800-CDC-INFO or visit their website at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov. Summary Midnite Mine is an inactive former uranium mine in the Selkirk Mountains of eastern Washington. Located within the reservation of the Spokane Tribe of Indians, the mine was operated from 1955 until 1981. Two open pits, backfilled pits, and a number of waste rock piles and ore/protore stockpiles remain on site. In addition to elevated levels of radioactivity, heavy metals mobilized in acid mine drainage pose a potential threat to human health and the environment. The site drains to Blue Creek, which enters the Spokane Arm of Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake. Contaminated water emerging below the waste rock and ore piles is currently captured for treatment in an on-site treatment system. The final cleanup plan (Record of Decision, or ROD) for the site was issued September 29, 2006. Record of Decision Midnite Mine Superfund Site Spokane Indian Reservation Washington Record of Decision (PDF) - September 2006 (248pp., 6.2MB, About PDF) Record of Decision, Revised Table 7-6 (1pp., 73K, PDF) The cleanup plan calls for a cap over an area of pits filled with waste during mining, consolidation and engineered containment of remaining waste in the two open pits, removal of water entering the pits, and operation of a treatment system to treat contaminated water from the pits and seeps. The Record of Decision initiates the design phase. Design of the cleanup will include data collection to support detailed construction plans and is expected to take several years. Please read supporting Technical Documents [ Main Cleanup | Brownfields ] [ Superfund | FOIA | Records Center ] Point of contact: Ellie Hale E-Mail: hale.ellie@epamail.epa.gov Phone Number: (206) 553-1215 Last Updated: 05/21/2009