Contaminant sources and sinks: summary of R & D 1985 to 2002, South Bay

The South Bay Waste Management Area (SBWMA) is located in Northern Ontario, \napproximately 85 km north east of Ear Falls (51o 08N, 92o 40E). A zinc and copper mine \nwas operated on the site from 1970 to 1981. The mine, the site of the former mill, a waste \nrock pile and the tailings are all located on a peninsula within the watershed of \nConfederation Lake, an important fishing lake with hunting lodges in the English River \ndrainage basin. In fact, the former mine site is virtually surrounded by a chain of tributary \nlakes which feed Confederation – Boomerang Lake (1M m3) to the south which flows \ndirectly into Confederation, and Mud Lake (0.07M m3) and Lena Lake ( 0.7Mm3) to the \nnorth and northwest which flow to Confederation by way of Armanda Lake (1 M m 3). \nBoomerang Lake was contaminated during the life of the mine, and Mud Lake was \ncontaminated in 1994 by a groundwater plume moving from the tailings. Both have been \ndesignated as part of the SBWMA and have been utilized in the clean-up effort. . \nDecommissioning activities, undertaken immediately after the closure of the mine, \nconsisted of burying the portal and sealing the shaft, raises and caps. All buildings were \ndestroyed - except for the concrete foundations that were left in place - and the \ncontaminated building materials buried except for those materials subsequently used in \nthe restoration. The tailings were covered in gravel to a depth of one foot and revegetated. \nThese efforts had no effect on the generation of acidity and contaminants. A \n1986 environmental study noted that acidic plumes were leaving the site and \nrecommended that they be treated by the occasional liming of Boomerang Lake, a \nproposal that was not accepted. In 1986, Boojum Research Limited was invited to assess \nthe potential applications of ecological engineering at the SBWMA and the site has thus \nbecome a demonstration site of this decommissioning approach. \nThe SBWMA contains two distinct contaminant-generating areas; the Mine/Mill Site and \nthe tailings basin. Measures taken at the SBWMA have substantially reduced the \nmobilization of contaminants on the site, and redirected all contaminants into two major \ncontaminant sinks, Boomerang Lake and Mud Lake. Mass balances are presented below \nfor the contaminants mobilized on-site and captured by the sinks. The noted retention of \ntons of contaminants provides a measure of the effectiveness of the effort to date.

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