2005-08-05_REVISION - M1977493 - Laserfiche WebLink

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EXHIBIT G -Water Information CHANGED FROM AM-03, AM-04, ALL TECHNICAL REVISIONS AND THE ORIGINAL PERMIT. Water Treatment Upgrades Present Climax Water Treatment System The Climax site straddles the Continental Divide with surface water flows into three drainage basins, the Arkansas River, Eagle River, and Tenmile Creek basins. The site receives more than 25 inches of precipitation annually, the majority of which falls as snow. Under a Colorado Discharge Permit System permit (CDPS) from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Climax is required to treat all process water and contaminated runoff (impacted waters) from the site. The existing Climax water management system involves surface and underground water sources that aze distributed among the three drainage basins. Impacted water sources in the Arkansas River Basin include the 5-Shaft dischazge. Sources within the Tenmile Creek Basin include the Camp, E-dump, F-dump, and McNulty Gulch drainages, non-interceptible stormwater from multiple locations, Tenmile Tailings Impoundment Dam (3-Dam seeps), Mayflower Tailings Impoundment Dam (5-Dam seeps), and historic sources in Seazle Gulch. The Eagle River Basin drainage sources include Robinson Tailings Impoundment (1-Dam seeps), Robinson Lake, non- interceptible stormwater sources, Robinson Lake Dam, and Eagle Pazk Reservoir Dam (4-Dam seeps). Of the three drainage basins, Climax is only authorized to dischazge treated impacted waters to Tenmile Creek. Currently lime is added to the source flows to adjust pH to circumneutral (7.0). From the Lime Station, these waters flow by gravity to the Tenmile Tailings Pond Tenmile Pond is maintained at a circumneutral pH by adding lime to the source flows at the Lime Station. Tenmile Pond provides first-stage hydroxide precipitation and clarification as well as sludge storage. Effluent from Tenmile Pond flows to the base of 3-Dam where lime is again added to raise pH to approximately 10. From the 3-Dam water flows by gravity in an open channel to the Mayflower Tailings Impoundment for second-stage hydroxide precipitation and clarification Effluent from Mayflower Pond flows to the base of 5-Dam where sulfuric acid is added to reduce pH to approximately 8 prior to dischazge. This system as configured, provides only partial two-stage treatment of the impacted waters at the site. However, the existing system effectively treats all of the impacted flows to meet CDPES effluent limitations. Proposed Water Treatment Rationale and Plan The Climax Water Treatment Upgrades, also referred to as the Climax Sludge Management Project, is a $19 MM project designed to assure short and long-term compliance with existing CPDES dischazge limitations. The project represents the culmination of a four-year alternatives analysis study, and represents the most technically supported approach for reducing sludge