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Blackbird Mine
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NOAA Restoration Center
Damage Assessment Restoration Program
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Blackbird Mine
Blackbird Mine
Blackbird Mine is an inactive mine located in the Panther Creek watershed, a tributary of the Salmon River in east central Idaho. Contamination of Panther Creek, with high levels of copper and other hazardous materials, eliminated Chinook salmon (listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act) from the watershed in the early 1960s. The wilderness landscape is marred by 4.8 million tons of waste rock, 2 million cubic yards of tailings and an 11.5 acre unreclaimed open pit. The surface of the mountaintop has been removed and over 10 miles of underground workings honeycomb the mountain. Mine tailings and waste rock are distributed over 128 acres of the mine site and surrounding National Forest area. Pollution problems are readily apparent in the surrounding creeks, where high levels of copper turn the water and rock an unnatural blue.
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Blackbird Mine
Restoration
Little Eightmile Ranch along the Lemhi River, one of the areas selected forfor the livestock exclusion fencing restoration project. This imageshows the stream prior to the fencing. Erosion is evident.
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Little Eightmile Ranch along the Lemhi River, one of the areas selected forfor the livestock exclusion fencing restoration project. This imageshows the stream prior to the fencing. Erosion is evident.
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(1.64 MB)
Blackbird Creek, at the mine site. This creek is devoid of life because of thehigh levels of copper leached from the mine. Contamination is fromacid mine drainage containing high levels of copper.
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(1.76 MB)
Little Eightmile ranch, another view of the eroding habitats.
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(1.13 MB)
Little Eightmile ranch, another view of the eroding habitats.More evidence of cattle damage. Over 6.5 miles of fencing was placed toprotect the Lemhi River and was completed in 1998, as part of the restoration.
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(1.4 MB)
An image showing the healthy riparian habitat. Restoration goals include undercut banks, woody debris in the water, and clean stream bottom.
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(1.56 MB)
Big Spring Creek on Little Eightmile Ranch, two miles of the creek werefenced to exclude livestock and protect the riparian habitat.
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(1.38 MB)
A close-up of the fencing type used at the Little Eightmile Ranch site.
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(1.32 MB)
A pair of Chinook salmon on a redd. Lemhi, River, Eightmile Ranch.
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(1.41 MB)
Panther Creek, an image of the stream that was affected by Blackbird Mine.The creek had very good habitat but for the mine discharge. By 1960steelhead trout and chinook salmon were extirpated from the river due to thecontaminants released at Blackbir
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(1.37 MB)
An image of the lower section of Panther Creek.
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(1.49 MB)
An image of the middle section of Panther Creek.
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(1.56 MB)
An image of the middle section of Panther Creek.
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(1.44 MB)
Part of the Blackbird Mine site, the Bucktail drainage basin. This image showscontaminated waste rock and tailings.
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(1.34 MB)
Blackbird Mine.
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(1.36 MB)
Dumping materials into a large open pit at Blackbird Mine as part of theclean-up work.
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.jpg
(1.68 MB)
The distinct blue in this image is caused by copper contamination, BucktailCreek. Nothing lives in this environment.
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.jpg
(1.54 MB)
The distinct blue in this image is caused by copper contamination, BucktailCreek. Nothing lives in this environment. This image shows a collection basinused as part of the remediation. Water is shunted to a treatment plant.
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(1.65 MB)
Blue copper precipitate in Bucktail Creek.
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(1.44 MB)
Contaminated materials that were deposited and then released during asevere thunderstorm caused trees to pick up the copper and release it throughtheir sap.
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.jpg
(1.42 MB)
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