BLM’s contractor, Ecology and Environment, Inc., developed a work plan for the Red Devil Mine Remedial Investigation. BLM coordinated the work plan with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The work plan called for extensive field work, including hundreds of soil, water and sediment samples. These samples were collected at or near the Red Devil Mine site in the summer and fall of 2010 and 2011. Results from the two years of sampling were evaluated to confirm whether metals are migrating from the tailings into Red Devil Creek and the Kuskokwim River.
The results were compiled in a Draft Remedial Investigation report released in April 2012. An associated risk assessment looked at human health risks from the metals found in the samples. (NOTE: these documents will be available on this website when final.)
In spring 2012, BLM will meet with a number of communities along the middle and lower Kuskokwim River to discuss the Remedial Investigation report and the risk assessment. Visit our Red Devil Mine Community Involvement Web page for the complete community meeting schedule.
BLM will also present the results of an ongoing fish tissue and radio telemetry study that will provide information about basin-wide levels of mercury and other metals in pike, burbot and other predatory fish. This data will also inform the Red Devil Mine Feasibility Study, to be released in late 2012. The Proposed Plan is scheduled for release in March 2013.