For Release: May 22, 2006
Contact: Doran Sanchez (951) 697-5220 or Steve Razo (951) 697-5217
CA-CDD-06-69

Open House Planned Regarding Arsenic Remediation Plans

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is planning an open house for the residents of Red Mountain on Wednesday, May 31, 2006, to outline initial actions BLM plans to take to address recently discovered high levels of arsenic in the community. BLM also plans to share preliminary information it has collected on arsenic concentrations in the areas of Randsburg and Johannesburg in northwestern San Bernardino and northeastern Kern counties.

BLM Ridgecrest Field Manager Hector Villalobos said BLM has conducted scientific sampling of old mine tailings at the site over several months. BLM will be providing results of that testing and discuss actions planned to better control the movement of arsenic from the mine site. Additionally, BLM and representatives from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry will addresses public health and safety issues. The open house is also intended to give area residents and interested public an opportunity to provide BLM with information and concerns.

The open house will be held at the Rand Community Building, 22721 Broadway (U.S. Highway 395), Johannesburg, between 6:30 and 9 pm. Villalobos said BLM has obtained about $500,000 in emergency funding from the U.S. Department of the Interior to perform initial work primarily in Red Mountain, including fencing, installing erosion run-off control structures, building a culvert under U.S. Highway 395, installing protective covers over mineshafts, and removing rock dumps. Administrative actions, such as proposed closures of routes and areas to off-highway vehicle recreation use, are also being considered. Details about these projects, plans, and maps will be provided at the open house.

The communities, about 25 miles southeast of Ridgecrest, are all within a historical gold and silver mining area. While arsenic is a naturally-occurring mineral in the area, historic mining and milling operations, dating back to the 1890s, concentrated arsenic levels during mill processing of ore, creating the surrounding tailings or waste piles.

Villalobos said testing around the Kelly Mine site near Red Mountain by BLM in late December indicated unusually high arsenic levels in the tailings piles. Those samples were sent to a qualified laboratory and indicated levels in the samples ranging between 200 and 8,000 parts per million (ppm). BLM shared those findings with EPA, the National Response Center, the governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES) and county agencies.