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Henderson Mine SPCC/MCP May 1999 <br />• As shown in Figure 3, two fresh water reservoirs aze located in Woods Creek Valley. The <br />Upper Urad Reservoir is located above the Upper Tailing Impoundment while the Lower <br />Urad Reservoir is located below thd,~,ower Tailing Impoundment. Both reservoirs are <br />owned and operated by the City of t~biden. To minimize impacts to water quality in <br />Woods Creek, the creek flow from the Upper Urad Reservoir is diverted around the <br />reclaimed tailing impoundments using lazge diameter concrete pipes. The pip.; beneath <br />the Upper Tailing Impoundment discharges to the surface just upstream from Ruby <br />Creek's dischazge point into the Woods Creek drainage. The combined flow of Woods <br />Creek and Ruby Creek is then diverted through a pipe around the Lower Tailing <br />Impoundment into the southwest corner of the Lower Urad Reservoir. The treatment <br />plant discharges treated water directly into this diversion pipe (Outfall 005). <br />2.3 Spill History <br />In the three yeazs preceding this update, there have been two reportable spi;ils at the <br />Henderson Mine and Urad Minesite. The first spill occurred on May 1, 199"~ when a <br />snow plow hit a cap on a buried water pipeline. Approximately 10,000 gallons of <br />untreated mine water with a manganese concentration of 52 mg/1 was released. The <br />incident was reported because this volume and manganese concentration of water <br />constituted more than one pound of manganese. The water flowed overland across the <br />face of the Lower Urad Reservoir Dam. No evidence could be found that this spill <br />• reached Woods Creek below the reservoir. The pipe that was damaged was rep;iired and <br />a temporary protective berm was constructed to prevent a reoccurrence of the incident. <br />The pipe has since been replaced by a dual pipeline buried six feet below grade. <br />The second spill occurred March 21, 1998 and involved a reported leak of PCB dielectric <br />fluid from a transformer to a designed containment. Approximately 1.5 gallon, of fluid <br />leaked into the containment structure. The azea was cleaned up in accordance with <br />applicable EPA requirements. <br />Since the operation began in 1976, only minor incidents have occurred and hive been <br />reported to the Colorado Water Quality Control Division. Henderson maintains the <br />capacity to react appropriately to hazardous material spills. It possesses the equipment, <br />materials, trained personnel and response systems necessary to control and neuUalize the <br />impact of accidental spills on neighboring environmental and water resources. Outside <br />emergency response teams are also available, if required, from Rocky 1•~ountain <br />Catastrophe (RMCAT~telephone: 1-800-930-001 I. <br />LJ <br />s <br />