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NPL Site Narrative for Salt Chuck Mine
SALT CHUCK MINE
Outer Ketchikan County, Alaska
Site Location
Salt Chuck Mine is located on Prince of Wales Island, in the Tongass National Forest at the northern end of Kasaan Bay.
Site History
The Salt Chuck Mine site is an inactive former gold, silver, and copper mine. The site contains large volumes of mine tailings, including 100,000 cubic yards of saturated tailings in Salt Chuck Bay adjacent to the former mill site. The most intense mining and milling activity occurred from 1915 to 1941 when approximately 326,000 tons of ore were mined. The upland area of the site is owned by the U.S. Forest Service and consists of approximately 45 acres including the following source areas: a large glory hole connected to the main adit, two shafts, a tunnel, and 13 waste rock dumps. The impacted tidelands are owned by the State of Alaska.
Site Contamination/Contaminants
Contaminants in the sources, surface water and sediments include copper, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and benzo-a-anthracene. Concentrations of all of these contaminants in upland sources exceed EPA cleanup guidelines for soil and mercury. Copper concentrations in the Bay exceed EPA risk assessment guidelines by 42 times and 17 times respectively. Copper and mercury detected in clam tissues in the Bay exceed the consumption guidelines for mercury in fish tissue issued by the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services.
Potential Impacts on Surrounding Community/Environment
Sediments and surface water in Kasaan Bay and Lake Ellen Creek have been impacted by mercury and copper. Kasaan Bay is host to the Kasaan Tribe (several hundred people), which uses the Bay as a commercial and subsistence fishery and shell fishery. Heavy metals from tailings both in the upland and in the Bay are impacting water quality and sediments both in the Bay and Lake Ellen Creek, which drains into the bay. These impacts affect salmon and shellfish in areas where both are harvested intensively by the local native community.
Response Activities (to date)
The Forest Service completed a draft site evaluation in March 2007, but has neither finalized the evaluation, nor taken any cleanup action.
Need for NPL Listing
The State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation (ADEC) has requested that EPA proceed with listing the site on the NPL because of the magnitude and location of contamination source areas upland and in the Bay, and because of the impacts on Kasaan Bay and the subsistence and commercial fisheries and shell fisheries that support the local native population. Negotiations with the Forest Service over the past few years have not been successful. According to ADEC, NPL listing of the site is the only option that will ensure that the entire site will be addressed in a timely and comprehensive manner. EPA received a letter of support for placing this site on the NPL from the State.
[The description of the site (release) is based on information available at the time the site was evaluated with the HRS. The description may change as additional information is gathered on the sources and extent of contamination. See 56 FR 5600, February 11, 1991, or subsequent FR notices.]
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at ATSDR - ToxFAQs (http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html) or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.