ADEQ reviewing FMI toxic spill

By Walter Mares
Copper Era Managing Editor
Published on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 10:05 AM MST

Whether the Arizona Department of Environmental quality penalizes the Freeport McMoRan Morenci copper mine for an Oct. 30 toxic spill into Chase Creek is uncertain.

The 168,000-gallon spill came within 120 feet of reaching the San Francisco River but was stopped by small earthen dams hastily constructed in the creek at its confluence with the river in Clifton.

The ADEQ released a preliminary report Monday summarizing the cause of the spill and action taken by FMI to mitigate it. ADEQ spokesman Mark Shaffer said the state agency is reviewing whether FMI violated its Aquifer Protection Permit or Arizona Pollution Discharge Elimination System regulations and if any action against FMI is warranted.

According to ADEQ, the sulfuric acid electrolyte solution spilled into the creek when an accidental cross connection between a solution pipe and the Chase Creek diversion pipe occurred. The creek is diverted through a pipe around the copper mine and returned to the creek's bed about two miles north of Clifton.

The toxic solution spilled into the creek is used in the mine's solvent extraction-electrowinning process to extract copper from low-grade ore.

The 168,000-gallon estimate was reached by calculating the volume of solution missing from a storage tank connected to the pipeline.

More than a week and the likely cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars later, the spill has been cleaned up.

Mine crews worked around the clock from the time of the spill until the weekend. About 200 workers were involved. Some of them were contract workers who had recently been laid off due to the recent copper market crash.

Activity appeared frantic through the week at the center of Clifton, where large equipment and several small earth movers, known as bobcats, were brought in for the cleanup. The bobcats were lowered into the creekbed by a crane.

Workers dug to a depth of about 4 feet in removing dirt from the creek. The dirt was replaced with clean soil trucked in from elsewhere.

Activity centered around the Circle K convenience store, which is located close to the confluence of Chase Creek and the San Francisco.

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Comments

21 comment(s)

Sue the company wrote on Nov 18, 2008 11:27 AM:

" Less toxic than Coca-Cola?! Would you drink even a minimal amount of the stuff that spilt? How high up are you in FMI to make such ridiculous statements?Anyone watch Erin Brockevich? What happened to that town when their water was contaminated? EVERYONE got sick. God bless all the workers who cleaned up this mess, and yes, many were contractors who recently were laid-off. I guess the "real miners" were too busy thinking off stories to tell the press to make the mine look good and safe. "

Contractor1 wrote on Nov 16, 2008 12:46 PM:

" I won't pretend to be an expert,because I'm not. I am, however, pretty sure this isn't what is meant by a GREEN EARTH. "

outside looking in wrote on Nov 16, 2008 11:29 AM:

" Reading this article and comments it seems that there are at least a couple people (maybe Morenci employees?) who are a little nervous about this accidental spill - insinuating that it is not serious while others are expressing true concern for the health and safety of the residents and employees of Morenci and area. Aren't chemicals and toxicity the same no matter what industry they are used in? I guess what I mean is sulphuric acid is sulphuric acid? Lets wait for ADEQ apparently they are still concerned. "

PimaTwo wrote on Nov 16, 2008 10:12 AM:

" Well real miner you are the one that will have to live with the stuff not me. If you say it's safe you make the call. Enjoy you quality of life and Live Long and Prosper.
I live by the saying there's never to much safety training involved. Just like theres never to much knowlege when worker safety is involved.
Let's see 168, 000 gallons, How many car batteries is that anyway? "

PimaTwo wrote on Nov 16, 2008 10:05 AM:

" The ADEQ is in charge of protecting the Enviorment. I guess they would be interested in the Human Factor as well. Why was it so important to stop the spill from getting to the river if even one human was hurt in the process of stopping the spill flow?
As for EMT our team calls the the local Fire Departments for EMT issues. ERT stands for Emergency Response Team. Our ERT team is trained to have the expertice to protect human life and clean up the spills as per any government guidelines. "

gunn1 wrote on Nov 15, 2008 8:04 PM:

" Pimatwo you have to shut the computer down and get out of the house more. You sound like a nice guy, but it would be nice if you actually had more information about what you speak about than the two articles in the Courier. The solution spilled was cleaned up per ADEQ direction, and will only be accepted when they say so. Maybe you could call the ADEQ and give them some advice since you are EMT trained (by a fortune 500 company) I'm sure you know more about spill clean up than they do. "

Real Miner wrote on Nov 15, 2008 7:51 PM:

" Pimatwo you crack me up, I can look on any news article in the Courier web and you are the resident expert on all. OSHA does not have anything to say about it. MSHA governs the mines and they don't have anything to say about it either, since it is not a safety related issue. Electrolyte used in SXEW has anywhere between 10-15% sulfuric acid, less than the electrolyte in your car battery.(although you probably already new that since you are ERT trained by a fortune 500 company LOL). "

PimaTwo wrote on Nov 15, 2008 12:41 PM:

" Hey Real Miner: First question: Do you know what I.D.L.H. stands for? Second question: Does Sulfuric Acid have this designation in the MSDS. Third question: Does your so called electrolyte contain Sulfuric Acid in any ratio.
I'm no so called expert just a fluently trained ERT operative from a fortune 500 company. And i do know the differnce between OSHA and MSHA. They do share the same MSDS's don't they.
The final question is simple: Do we all want to be safe or sorry with our lives? "

Funny wrote on Nov 15, 2008 10:30 AM:

" was it just me, or was most of the clean up being done by the contractors that FMI had just laid off???? man, glad FMI cared enough to let them come back for a bit so they could clean up the mess they made!! bet the contractors felt really special!! "

Real Miner wrote on Nov 15, 2008 9:11 AM:

" You people need to wake up and smell the coffee. With out FMI most of you wouldn't have any thing to complain about except where the next leaf raking job to pay your bills is coming from. If you have never produced a pound of Copper with the utilization of Electrolyte then please keep your "want to be expert" opinions to yourselves! Don't forget that Clifton wouldn't even exist in this day and age if it weren't for the water, electricity, and revenue that is provided by the so called bad guys FMI. Think about it!! "

caveman wrote on Nov 14, 2008 2:49 PM:

" "the "clean up crew" were in regular clothes."
Of course, a full hazmat suit was unnecessary.

"This toxic acid was going underneath a lot of businesses."
That is why they were excavating tons of material.

"should be compensated for their loss."
Agreed.

"The guy 30+ yrs should definitely be firedbecause he could of caused FMI plenty of lawsuits"
So he should have been fired just to make the company appear deeply contrite? I disagree.

"And what if it did get into the river? "
Very serious, and very glad it didn't. "

CC wrote on Nov 14, 2008 2:36 AM:

" How can ANYONE say anything until things are analyzed... What if those defending it get sick in a week.. a month.. a year. It's one thing to defend the work force or local economy.. another to blindly trust those that control us. The effects of this event could take years. Let's not judge but be cautious on what could happen.. and not promote this happening again.. because what about it is defendable for the well-being of our family and friends.. or our local economy? "

Dev wrote on Nov 14, 2008 2:33 AM:

" Hello?? Do you guys live in a cave??? Sulfuric acid is highly toxic AND i was just driving by the spill the other day and the "clean up crew" were in regular clothes. This toxic acid was going underneath a lot of businesses that had to be shut down for the clean up and obviously should be compensated for their loss. The guy 30+ yrs should definitely be fired because he could of caused FMI plenty of lawsuits that if anyone from clifton or morenci were smart enough could of filed. And what if it did get into the river? "

Agree too wrote on Nov 13, 2008 4:35 PM:

" I agree with FMI Miner too. It's been cleaned up. No harm-no foul! "

Really wrote on Nov 13, 2008 8:22 AM:

" I agree with FMI- One mistake and the guy is fired? I am so sorry to this man and his family. Im sure he feels horrible about it and Im glad to know everyone did such a great job to clean it up before it was able to reach the public. "

Contractor1 wrote on Nov 13, 2008 6:35 AM:

" Just a thought here, would anyone drink this stuff?

If it's less toxic than Coca-Cola, why did the spend so much cleaning it up?

I'm pretty sure this is much worse than anyone suspects. "

FMI miner wrote on Nov 13, 2008 6:01 AM:

" Sulfuric acid and copper in solution is highly toxic!
It stings to get it on you and ingestion is serious.
The workers who cleaned up the mess were adequately clothed to handle the situation though.

Chase creek water is actually routed through a pipe from above the mine to below the dam. Once the solution was accidentally tied into the Chase Creek bypass line, it had free access beyond the dam.

A good man lost his job for that mistake...30+ years of exemplary service got wiped out by one lapse in judgement. Being fired was too harsh. "

JoBoo wrote on Nov 12, 2008 5:50 PM:

" This is an exageration to say this was toxic. Coca Cola is more toxic than this solution. Blue water like this used to naturally flow down chase creek. "

cruizer76 wrote on Nov 12, 2008 4:10 PM:

" what happened to the dam that was supposed to protect everything from the acid? "

safford guy wrote on Nov 12, 2008 2:52 PM:

" its msha, not osha "

PimaTwo wrote on Nov 12, 2008 1:45 PM:

" What did OSHA have to say about this? Have they started a report process ? I would still have expected the workers to have more protection than they appeared to have in the Courior photo that was printed. But hey that's just my opinion.
I have had extensive chemical spill training over the years so i might be expecting to much for Freeport to muster up. OSHA usually controls the human contcat side of things.
I'm very glad everyone and the enviornment were ok in the end. "

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