FTN provides support at a former vanadium mine site in south-central Arkansas. Mining operations ceased in the mid-1980s and reclamation activities have been occurring since that time. The approximately 400-acre former mine site includes two large pit lakes and a comprehensive stormwater collection and treatment system.
Our firm’s role at the site has been to provide technical support for water quality issues (surface and groundwater), extensive monitoring and evaluations of potential acid rock drainage effects (chemistry and biology), and preparation of a Use Attainability Analysis (UAA) to develop site-specific water quality standards in the receiving stream of the site’s NPDES discharge.
FTN has also provided regulatory compliance support, including wetlands and Section 404 permitting, NPDES permit renewal and compliance, and toxicity identification evaluation and toxicity reduction evaluation support.
The UAA work included extensive support for monitoring receiving streams and technical support throughout the extended public notice and third-party rulemaking processes for the site. FTN served as the lead consultant for the technical justification to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality and EPA Region 6 with regard to the site-specific criteria for sulfate, total dissolved solids, and chloride, and provided critical support for successful implementation and review of the criteria.
