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Site Report: Beatson Mine

Site Name: Beatson Mine
Address: NW Shore of Latouche Island; ~3.8 Miles ESE of Chenega Bay, Chenega Bay, AK 99574
File Number: 2264.38.038
Hazard ID: 26264
Status: Active
Staff: Anne Marie Palmieri, 9077663184 AnneMarie.Palmieri@alaska.gov
Latitude: 60.049571
Longitude: -147.904137
Horizontal Datum:WGS84

We make every effort to ensure the data presented here is accurate based on the best available information currently on file with DEC. It is therefore subject to change as new information becomes available. We recommend contacting the assigned project staff prior to making decisions based on this information.

Problems/Comments

The Beatson Mine was a large copper mine which operated from 1904-1930. Total copper production from the mine is reported as 182 million pounds. A large volume of copper tailings are present in the uplands and marine inter-tidal area. Acid mine drainage is visually apparent and flowing into the marine surface water; the measure pH ranged from 3.1-4.2. USGS collected samples of the marine sediment and biota and metals concentrations at the site were higher than at other mines. In 2013, composite surface soil samples showed elevated concentrations of metals, including copper up to 13,300 mg/kg and lead up to 1,310 mg/kg.

Action Information

Action Date Action Description DEC Staff
8/14/2014 Site Added to Database A new site has been added to the database Mitzi Read
8/15/2014 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking Initial ranking with ETM completed for source area id: 79655 name: Beatson Mine Mitzi Read
10/20/2014 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter PRP letters sent out this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/18/2014 Potentially Responsible Party/State Interest Letter A PRP letter was sent out this date to Minaska, Inc. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/3/2015 Update or Other Action A request for site characterization was sent to Rio Tinto on this date. A joint site visit is planned for August 2015. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/6/2015 Site Visit CS and Dept of Law staff conducted a site visit with Rio Tinto. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/19/2015 Update or Other Action Staff approved a Rio Tinto request for an extension for submittal of a site characterization work plan. The new submittal deadline is 12/31/15. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/12/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided comments on the draft site characterization work plan to Rio Tinto on this date. The draft work plan was received on 12/29/15. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/17/2016 Update or Other Action DEC agreed with Rio Tinto's responses to our comments on the draft work plan on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
3/31/2016 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC and Dept. of Law staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss the large number people who have been found to own property at the site. Anne Marie Palmieri
5/12/2016 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC mailed PRP letters to the approximately 120 property owners in the LaTouche Subdivision. An open house was held in Anchorage on this date for property owners to answer any questions. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/7/2016 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided additional review comments on the draft-final work plan to Rio Tinto. Field work is planned to begin on August 8, 2016. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/29/2016 Site Characterization Workplan Approved The site characterization work plan (dated 7/28/16) was approved this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
11/8/2017 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites staff (Palmieri and Wu) met with Rio Tinto to discuss the results of the site characterization activities. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/19/2018 Site Characterization Report Approved The 2016 Site Characterization Report was approved this date. A copy of the report has been included in the documents section. Due to the large file size, the field notes and lab data reports have been removed from the online version, but are available directly from DEC, if needed. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/21/2018 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites (O'Connell, Palmieri, and Wu) met with Rio Tinto and Golder to discuss the proposed risk assessment and 2018 field activities. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/25/2018 Exposure Tracking Model Ranking A new updated ranking with ETM has been completed for source area 79655 Beatson Mine. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/23/2018 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC reviewed the draft 2018 site characterization work plan and provided comments to Rio Tinto. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/1/2018 Site Characterization Workplan Approved DEC approved the 2018 site characterization work plan. Field work is scheduled to begin in August. Anne Marie Palmieri
3/8/2019 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC met with Rio Tinto and their consultant, Golder Associates, to discuss risk assessment issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
4/23/2019 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff, Bill O'Connell and Anne Marie Palmieri, and Dept of Law attorney, Jenn Currie, met with Rio Tinto to discuss technical, policy, and legal issues regarding the cleanup of the site. Anne Marie Palmieri
5/13/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other CSP staff (Wu and Palmieri) reviewed the draft Risk Assessment work plan and provided comments to Rio Tinto on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/20/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other CS staff reviewed the draft site characterization work plan and provided comments to Rio Tinto on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/1/2019 Site Characterization Workplan Approved The work plan for the 2019 site characterization field activities was approved on this date. Field work is expected to begin on July 15th. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/22/2019 Site Visit DEC staff, Ted Wu and Anne Marie Palmieri, conducted a site visit on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/21/2019 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other CS staff (Wu and Palmieri) reviewed the Rio Tinto responses to our comments on the draft Risk Assessment work plan and provided additional comments/clarification to Rio Tinto. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/28/2019 Site Characterization Report Approved DEC approved the Supplemental Environmental Site Characterization report (dated 8/7/19) on this date. The report documents the sampling results and field activities from the 2018 field season. A copy of the report is included in the documents section. Due to the large size of the file, the lab data reports have been removed from the online version, but are available directly from DEC, if needed. Anne Marie Palmieri
10/4/2019 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff from DEC-CS and Dept. of Law met with Rio Tinto to discuss general coordination issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/11/2020 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff from DEC-CS and Dept of Law met with Rio Tinto to discuss site activities and overall coordination issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
3/6/2020 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS Staff met with Rio Tinto on this date and received an update as to the status of the project activities. Spring sampling has been postponed due to the pandemic. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/15/2020 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/28/2020 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss technical issues about the site characterization. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/4/2020 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff from DEC-CS and Dept of Law met with Rio Tinto to discuss site activities and overall coordination issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
8/5/2020 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other CS staff reviewed the Draft 2019 Environmental Site Characterization Update report and provided comments to Rio Tinto. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/2/2020 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto and Golder to discuss DEC comments on the site characterization report. Rio Tinto also outlined their plans for a limited groundwater and surface water monitoring field effort that will be conducted on September 15-16. Golder will follow sampling methodology and procedures in accordance with work plans previously-approved by DEC. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/30/2020 Update or Other Action DEC mailed a newsletter to all currently identified landowners on this date. The newsletter outlines a brief history of the site and discusses past and current environmental work. A copy of the newsletter is included in the 'Documents' section. Anne Marie Palmieri
10/5/2020 Site Characterization Report Approved Staff approved the 2019 Environmental Site Characterization Update report on this date. Copies of the report and the approval letter are included in the 'Documents' section. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/25/2021 Meeting or Teleconference Held CSP staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss the 2021 field season activities and general site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
4/1/2021 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
4/15/2021 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto on this date to discuss their land acquisition process. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/4/2021 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff and Rio Tinto met this date to discuss the draft risk assessment report. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/16/2021 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto on this date to general site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/6/2021 Site Characterization Workplan Approved CSP staff approved the 2021 Summer Site Characterization Work Plan on this date. Fieldwork is scheduled to begin in mid-July. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/7/2021 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC staff provided comments on the Draft Human Health and Ecological Risk Assessment to Rio Tinto on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/20/2021 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff and Rio Tinto met to discuss the site status and progress and introduce new Rio Tinto project team members. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/20/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss project process, project status, and technical issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/24/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held CS staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultant Golder to discuss multiple technical and policy issues that will need to be resolved over the next year. Anne Marie Palmieri
3/16/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultant, Golder, to discuss background determinations for metals in groundwater. Rio Tinto provided a white paper on this topic that staff reviewed prior to the meeting. Anne Marie Palmieri
4/22/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff met with Rio Tinto and WSP/Golder to discuss future possible institutional controls, groundwater and surface water points of compliance, and petroleum hydrocarbons in the uplands and intertidal area. Anne Marie Palmieri
5/5/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff met with Rio Tinto and WSP/Golder to discuss the 2022 field season work plan. Anne Marie Palmieri
5/20/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites and Water Quality staff met with Rio Tinto and Golder to discuss groundwater and surface water issues at the site. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/3/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff met with Rio Tinto on this date to discuss the summer field effort. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/3/2022 Site Characterization Workplan Approved Staff approved the site characterization workplan for the 2022 field season on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/2/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other On this date, staff provided review comments on the draft June 2022 site characterization report to Rio Tinto. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/6/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other On this date, staff provided a response letter to Rio Tinto's Application of Institutional Controls for Groundwater letter, dated June 28, 2022. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/12/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held Contaminated Sites and Water Quality staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss surface water and other technical site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
11/28/2022 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC staff reviewed the Principal Components Analysis technical memo and provided comments to Rio Tinto on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/1/2022 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC-Contaminated Sites, DEC-Water Quality, and DNR-Statewide Abatement of Impaired Lands staff met with Rio Tinto and their contractors on this date. Multiple technical topics were discussed including a Use Attainability Analysis for surface water designated uses, submerged tailings, development of cleanup levels for the site, and a schedule of proposed milestones. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/13/2022 Site Characterization Report Approved Staff approved the 2020/2021 Site Characterization Report on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/24/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held Staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultants to discuss site issues, including submerged tailings and the application of the Clean Water Act. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/24/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss various site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
4/3/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto and its consultants to discuss various site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
5/9/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto to discuss several technical issues as well as the review schedule for a number of documents that have been submitted to DEC for review and comment. Anne Marie Palmieri
6/9/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other Staff reviewed the Net Environmental Benefit Assessment report which provides assessment and feasibility study information regarding the submarine tailings. DEC provided a response letter requesting additional information. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/6/2023 Site Visit DEC and DNR staff accompanied Rio Tinto and their consultants on a site visit. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/12/2023 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided review comments on the 2022 draft Site Characterization Report on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
7/31/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultants to discuss cleanup levels and other site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/18/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultants to discuss the Clean Water Act and the Use Attainability Analysis. Anne Marie Palmieri
9/26/2023 Site Characterization Report Approved DEC approved the 2022 Site Characterization Report Update on this date. Anne Marie Palmieri
10/16/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultants to discuss multiple site issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
11/6/2023 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with Rio Tinto and their consultants to discuss Rio Tinto's draft alternative cleanup level proposal. Anne Marie Palmieri
12/12/2023 Update or Other Action On this date, DEC provided a letter to Rio Tinto concurring with their proposed cleanup approach to the site. A copy of the letter is included in the documents on the database. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/23/2024 Meeting or Teleconference Held On this date, DEC met with Rio Tinto to discuss cleanup levels and site cleanup issues. Anne Marie Palmieri
1/26/2024 Update or Other Action The DEC Water Quality staff provided comments to Rio Tinto on the draft Use Attainability Assessment report. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/2/2024 Document, Report, or Work plan Review - other DEC provided comments to Rio Tinto on the draft Alternative Cleanup Levels, Oct. 2023 report. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/22/2024 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC staff met with DNR staff to discuss the submarine tailings. Anne Marie Palmieri
2/29/2024 Meeting or Teleconference Held DEC met with Rio Tinto to discuss cleanup levels for the site. Anne Marie Palmieri

Contaminant Information

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State of Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

P.O. Box 111800
Juneau, AK 99811-1800
Phone: 907-465-5066
Fax: 907-465-5245
TDD: 800-770-8973
Physical Location: 410 Willoughby