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Cotter Corporation • <br />February 11, 1980 <br />page two <br />• <br />Upon reviewing the above data concerning the ecological behavior of 226Ra <br />in the terrestrial biosphere and considering the large quantities of waste <br />rock or ore deposited in the valley, it appears a significant additional. <br />source term of 226Ra at the Schwartzwalder mine and environment may be present. <br />Therefoce, the following questions were raised in our letter dated <br />December 18, 1979: <br />1) the total amount of waste rock deposited in the valley <br />2) the amount of waste rock deposited per year <br />3) the percent ore intermixed with the waste rock. An extensive survey of <br />the waste rock stock pile should be carried out to determine this. <br />4) the physiochemical reactions between the ore, the waste roc!c and the <br />rain water (which may contain sulfuric and nitric acid). <br />In order to properly address question I14, it is necessary to determine the <br />runoff and rainfall conditions for the Schwartzwalder mine and environment. <br />Therefore, the following questions were raised in our December 18, 1979 letter: <br />• 5) runoff and rainfall conditions for the Schwartzwalder mine .and environment <br />6) the acid content of the rain in the region <br />7) an estimate of the amount of 226Ra carried to Ralston Crcek as runoff <br />from the waste rock pile. <br />Data indicating the effects of acid rain on waste rock and ore :ire contained <br />in the aforementioned references, In your December 28, 1979 le :ter, you <br />indicated the average pH of rain along the front range is 6.3. Data contra- <br />dicting this value may be found in the following articles: <br />Science Necas, Vol. 116, pg. 244. <br />Lewis, W.N., Grant, M.C., "Relationships Between Stream Dischara;e and Yield <br />of Dissolved Substances from a Colorado Mountain Watershed", Soil Science, <br />Vol. 128, 353-363, 1979. <br />Lewis, W.M., Grant, M.C., "Acid Precipitation in the Western U.:i." <br />Science (in press). <br />A copy of "Acid Precipitation in the Western U.S." may be obtai~ted from the <br />authors at the follow-ing address: <br />• William M. Lewis, Jr., and Michael C. Grant <br />Department of Environmental, Population, <br />and Organismic Biology <br />University of Colorado <br />Boulder, Colorado 80309 <br />