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5.3.1.7 Process Water Storage Tanks <br />• Not currently (May 2004) operational due to standby status of the mine. <br />Description: Two welded steel tanks serve to store and contain mill process water returned from <br />Robinson Reservoir. Each is capable of holding 2 million gallons of water. <br />Location: Southeast of Mill Building. <br />Spill Potential: Low. <br />Potential Volume Spilled: 2 million gallons if one entire tank ruptured. <br />Prevention and Control If there was a slow leak of the westernmost tank, water would <br />probably flow down the access road and eventually enter the tailing system. A rapid release of <br />water from either tank could possibly impact the Arkansas drainage. When the mine is on <br />standby status, the amount of water in the tanks is minimized. <br />Countermeasures: Spilled process water must be diverted to the west along the road or the road <br />sideditch. To accomplish this it may be necessary to mobilize a dozer or backhoe to dig a <br />temporary diversion ditch south of the tanks and with enough capacity to force water to the west. <br />A small leak of several gallons per minute can be contained with a sump and portable pump <br />system or simply by trapping water in a diked (earthen) area. Pumping the water to the road <br />sideditch would insure it reaches the tailing system. <br />Nearest Clean-up Equipment: Gas powered portable pumps are located in the Open Pit <br />Wazehouse. A dozer and backhoe aze located in various locations throughout the minesite, most <br />likely in the open pit azea. <br />Visual Inspections and Integrity Testing: During normal MiII operations the tanks are checked <br />daily and inspected quarterly. During standby, the tanks are checked monthly and inspected <br />semi-annually. <br />Reporting: All spills of process water from the storage tanks should be documented using the <br />"Spill and Release Information Sheet" immediately (Appendix 1), and copies provided to the <br />Environmental Department. <br />Conformance with Applicable Requirements: At the time of this writing (May 2004) the <br />process water tanks aze empty, and therefore the facility is in conformance with applicable <br />regulatory requirements. <br />54 <br />