Site Summary
The Black Butte Mine Superfund Site is located near Cottage Grove, Oregon in Lane County. Mercury and other contamination from tailing piles at the abandoned mine site affect creeks that flow into Cottage Grove Reservoir and the Coast Fork Willamette River. The Black Butte Mine operated between the 1890's and late 1960's and was one of the largest mercury mines in Oregon. The Black Butte Mine site was added to EPA's National Priorities List on March 4, 2010. The listing makes the site eligible to receive federal funds for long-term cleanup.
| Superfund Cleanup Program Documents | PDF Properties |
| Black Butte Mine Project Update #2 (PDF) - March 2013 | (1 page, 378K) |
| Black Butte Mine Project Update #1 (PDF) - October 2012 | (1 page, 326K) |
| Final Optimization Report for the Black Butte Mine (PDF)- July 2012. The optimization review evaluates site conditions and identifies optimal approaches for conducting a remedial investigation (RI) of the Black Butte Mine (BBM) Superfund Site. | (105 pp, 13MB) |
| National Priorities List Documents |  |
| HRS Documentation Record Cover Letter (PDF) | (1 pp. 18K) |
| HRS Documentation Record Review (PDF) | (51 pp. 751K) |
| Reference 1: Hazard Ranking System, Final Rule, 40 CFR Part 300 (PDF) - December 14, 1990 | (17 pp. 1.4MB) |
| Reference 2: Superfund Chemical Data Matrix (SCDM), Appendix BI, 12 pages excerpted; and Appendix BII, 1 page excerpted. (PDF) - January 2004 | (14 pp. 244K) |
| Reference 3: 1:63,360 topographic map, Harness Mountain, Oregon. (PDF) - 1987 | (2 pp. 31K) |
| Reference 4: Black Butte Mine, Site Inspection Report, TDD: 98-04-0004 (PDF) - April 1998 | (318 pp. 8.2MB) |
| Reference 5: Final Removal Action Report for Black Butte Mine, Cottage Grove, Oregon (PDF) - July 20, 2008 | (83 pp. 2.6MB) |
| Reference 6: Quicksilver in Oregon (PDF) - 1963 | (14 pp. 569K) |
| Reference 7: Quicksilver in Oregon (PDF) - February 1, 1938 | (17 pp. 1.3MB) |
| Reference 8: Quicksilver Deposits in Oregon (PDF) - 1971 | (9 pp. 247K) |
| Reference 9: Geology of the Blackbutte Mercury Mine, Lane County, Oregon (PDF) - 1973 | (86 pp. 1.6MB) |
| Reference 10: Site Inspection Field Logbook, Book 1 of 2 (PDF) - August 31, 1998 through September 4, 1998 | (28 pp. 3.3MB) |
| Reference 11: Site Inspection Chain-of-Custody forms (PDF) - September 2-3, 1998 | (8 pp. 487K) |
| Reference 12: National Functional Guidelines for Inorganic Data Review (PDF) - February 1994 | (46 pp. 580K) |
| Reference 13: Removal Assessment Report, TDD: 06-01-0005 (PDF) - March 21, 2006 | (136 pp. 4.2MB) |
| Reference 14: Site-Specific Sampling Plan, TDD: 05-04-0005 (PDF) - September 1, 2005 | (212 pp. 7.3MB) |
| Reference 15: Removal Assessment Report, chain-of-custody forms (PDF) - September 7-10, 2005 | (4 pp. 126K) |
| Reference 16: Site Inspection Field Logbook, Book 2 of 2 (PDF) - September 1, 1998 through September 4, 1998 | (18 pp. 1.7MB) |
| Reference 17: Preliminary Assessment (PDF) - April, 1, 1996 | (100 pp. 3.6MB) |
| Reference 18: 15-Mile TDL and Wetlands Maps (PDF) - July 2009 | (3 pp. 312K) |
| Reference 19: Final Report Sources and Chronology of Mercury Contamination in Cottage Grove Reservoir (PDF) - May 20, 2003 | (49 pp. 1MB) |
| Reference 20: Department of Environmental Quality memorandum to Max Rosenberg, R.G., WR Cleanup Manager regarding Black Butte Mine Mercury Loading Assessment Results (PDF) - August 21, 2008 | (85 pp. 1.7MB) |
| Reference 21: Coast Fork Willamette River at London, Oregon, Annual Mean Streamflow - Calendar Year; and 01/01/1939 to 09/30/2007, (PDF) | (7 pp. 143K) |
| Reference 22: Oregon State University Sample Points in Relation to Black Butte Mine TDL (PDF) - April 2009 | (2 pp. 141K) |
| Reference 23: Mercury Distribution in Sediments and Bioaccumulation by Fish in Two Oregon Reservoirs: Point-Source and Nonpoint-Source Impacted Streams (PDF) - September 12, 1996 | (8 pp. 294K) |
| Reference 24: Final Report Reconnaissance Soil Sampling at the Black Butte Mine (PDF) - August 9, 2004 | (14 pp. 216K) |
| Reference 25: Fish Advisories: Consumption Guidelines (PDF) - April 2009 | (5 pp. 245K) |
| Reference 26: Mercury in Oregon Lakes, Water Pollution Control, 1993 – 1994 (PDF) - May 1996 | (62 pp. 1.7MB) |
| Reference 27: District Fish Biologist, South Willamette Watershed District, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, phone conversation with Linda Costello, Ecology & Environment Inc. regarding Sport Fishing within 15-miles downstream of Black Butte Mine (PDF) - April 3, 2009 | (2 pp. 40K) |
| Reference 28: Upper Willamette River Chinook ESU (PDF) - December 29, 2008 | (3 pp. 129K) |
| Reference 29: Memorandum from Kathy Parker, On-Scene Coordinator, and Carl Kitz, On-Scene Coordinator regarding Request for a Removal Action to be Conducted at the Black Butte Mine, Cottage Grove, Oregon to Daniel D. Opalski, Director, Office of Environmental Cleanup (PDF) - April 13, 2007 | (22 pp. 832K) |
| Reference 30: Using Qualified Data to Document an Observed Release and Observed Contamination, EPA/540/F-94/028 (PDF) - November 1996 | (19 pp. 346K) |
| Reference 31: Memorandum to Renee Nordeen, Project Manager, Ecology and Environment, Inc. regarding Sample Quantitation Limits for the 1998 Site Inspection Report samples (PDF) - April 8, 2009 | (17 pp. 565K) |
| Reference 32: Memorandum to Renee Nordeen, Project Manager, Ecology and Environment, Inc. regarding calculation of volume for tailings piles and contaminated soil at Black Butte Mine (PDF) - April 8, 2009 | (4 pp. 197K) |
| Reference 33: Black Butte Mine Mercury Loading Assessment Field Notes (PDF) | (14 pp. 901K) |
| Reference 34: Removal Assessment Field Notes (PDF) - June 2, 2005 through September 11, 2005 | (22 pp. 945K) |
| Reference 35: Amended Analytical Report for Black Butte Mine for samples received by the laboratory on 06/27/08 (PDF) - July 14, 2009 | (97 pp. 3.3MB) |