Virginia City, Nevada City, & the Ruby Valley Garnet Mine Tour Attendees traveled by bus to Virginia and Nevada Cities and experienced two historical gold mining towns of the old west. The tour also featured a stop at the Ruby Valley Garnet Mine where attendees saw first hand the mine and its many facilities.
Public Participation: What's Working — What Could be Improved?
Effective public participation is a vital element of any environmental remediation, restoration, or permitting effort. This session assembles citizen participants, regulators, academics, technical consultants, and procedural consultants who will use case studies to explore the characteristics of effective public participation and to exemplify what’s working and what could be improved. The session will close with a presenter’s panel discussion followed by an open discussion.
EPA Regulated Sites
Trends in EPA’s Public Participation Programs— Wendy Thomi, Community Involvement Coordinator, EPA, Helena, MT
The Dynamic Tension Between Historical Preservation and Environmental Cleanup at America’s Largest Superfund Site— Pat Munday, Ph.D., Professor of History and Philosophy, MT Tech, Butte, MT
Successes and Challenges at the Libby Site— Leroy Thom, Superfund Site Citizen Leaders, Libby, MT
Development and Function of the Bunker Hill Superfund Task Force— Jerry Cobb, Pan Handle Health District Program Manager, Kellogg, ID
Experiences of the Impacted Community at the Standard Mine Site— Anthony Poponi, Technical Assistance Grant Consultant, Crested Butte, CO
Citizen Collaboration for Influencing National Forest Management: Two Case Studies—Brian Kahn, Director, Artemis Common Ground, Helena, MT
The CERCLA § 108(b) Financial Responsibility Initiative — Ben Lesser, Program Implementation and Information Division Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D. C.
Lessons Learned as a Technical Assistance Grant Consultant for the Upper Tenmile Superfund Site— Steve Ackerlund, Technical Assistance Grant Consultant, Helena, MT
Stakeholder Assessment and Dialogue Feasibility Study for the Proposed Pebble Mine Site in Alaska— Todd Bryan, Ph.D., Senior Mediator, Keystone Center, Denver, CO
Major Themes and Current Directions— Panel Discussion
Mayflower Mine Project, Madison County, Montana— Allan Kirk, Tetra Tech, Inc.
Butte Highlands Project Exploration & Development Program— Paul Dircksen, Timberline Resources Corp., Coeur d' Alene, Idaho
Barrick–Golden Sunlight Mine: Major Life Extension & Operations Update– Mark Thompson, Barrick–Golden Sunlight Mine
Geological Aspects (as well as Mining History) of Silver Valley, Idaho— Earl Bennett, PhD, retired University of Idaho
Main Street & Mining in Montana– George Everett, Main Street Butte, MT
Environmental Restoration & Place-based Education— Matt Vincent, Clark Fork Watershed Education Program
Assessment & Remedial Implementation for Historic Preservation & Reuse of the Paris Mill Site, Alma, CO— Jesse Silverstein, CO Brownfields Foundation & Mark Rudolph, CO Dept. of Public Health & Env.
More Than Just a Cleanup: Remediation through Development, Development through Remediation at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site— Tom Bourque, PE, TerraGraphics Environmental Engineering
Making Progress on Abandoned Uranium Mines on the Navajo Nation— Andy Bain, US EPA, Region 9 & Stanley Edison, Navajo EPA
Workshop: Communication Skills & Strategies for Leaders in Mining Communities— Jack Dittmann, West Yellowstone, MT; Dayle Hardy-Short, Northern Arizona University; & Brant Short, Northern Arizona University
Storytelling of Coal Mining in Popular Song: Rhetorical Analysis of Kathy Mattea’s 2008 Recording Coal— Michelle Flude, LeeDa Miller, and Brant Short, Northern Arizona University
Strategies & Implementation of Web 2.0 Communication Tools to Enhance Stakeholder Engagement— Zoe Mullard & Dirk van Zyl, PhD, University of British Columbia
When the Media Circus Comes to Town: Strategies for Coping with Crisis & an Invasion of Intrusive News Reporters - Patricia Paystrup, PhD, Southern Utah University
Superfund Impacted Communities: One Historic Smelting Community’s Progress — Amy Thomson & Erin Jenrich, Kuipers & Associates
Engaging Communities in the Local Heritage & in the Environment Creatively (60-minute talk)— T. Allan Comp, Appalachian Coal Country Watershed Team & Western Hardrock Watershed Team
Water Treatment Systems— Jake Kockler, Ionic Water Technologies
Imaging the Subsurface to Understand the Impacts of Mining on Groundwater— Ron Bell, International Geophysical Services, Inc.
Tailings Dust Control— John Vermillion, Environmental Products & Applications
Best Practices for Physical Hazard Closures— Dennis Dunham, Foam Concepts, LLC
The Future of Mine Wastewater Treatment— Jim Castro, PhD, Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality
A Landscape Approach to Abandoned Mine Safety Remediation— Christopher Ross, BLM Nevada State Office
Green Mining—Reuse of Tailings— John Porterfield, Porter Block, Inc.