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Forest Service outlines Brooklyn Mine cleanup plan; dewatering ponds and road closures expected
Summary
A U.S. Forest Service representative told commissioners the agency plans to dewater two mine ponds at Brooklyn Mine, consolidate pond sediments onto a Level 1 waste rock pile, stabilize the mine portal and stage road closures; the project is timed to avoid monsoons but could be delayed by federal contracting pauses.
A U.S. Forest Service representative briefed San Juan County commissioners on planned cleanup work at the Brooklyn Mine site, outlining two linked efforts: dewater and reclaim on-site ponds and stabilize underground workings and a portal. The presentation described expected road impacts, material handling plans and timing contingencies tied to federal contracting approvals.
The presenter said the Forest Service is partnering with a contractor (“Kirsten’s team”) to remove sediments from two ponds, consolidate that material onto a Level 1 waste rock pile, and cover the consolidated material so the former ponds can “restore back to wetland.” He described testing that showed pond water pH near 4, and said the sediments would not be left as exposed habitat: “The material in the bottom … has a pH of about 4,” and the plan is to consolidate and cover the sediments so the ponds can be reclaimed.
Work will require temporary road closures on the Brooklyn Road corridor. The presenter said local traffic and property owners would be accommodated where practical and that the contractor’s traffic-control plan is a required bid item. “We’re gonna have to close that road before removing those … moving those sediments,” the presenter said, adding that local landowners could be admitted with advance arrangements and that the project team would post signage at both ends of the route.
The Forest Service staff said the preferred timing would be early in the summer, with an aim to finish before the monsoon season; a “drop-dead” completion date of Sept. 30 was mentioned to avoid work extending into the fall. He said a proposed haul route would bring quarry materials and mine-derived waste into a nearby quarry area and that the agency would try to route stormwater through Burns Formation rock where natural buffering raises pH before water reaches lower stream segments.
The presenter and BLM/USGS-referenced testing both informed a plan to route adit drainage and site stormwater through the quarry area to raise pH before it reaches downstream channels.
BLM and Forest Service staff said they have sampled stream seeps and groundwater in prior years and have studied the Burns Formation’s buffering capacity. The presenter confirmed that the Forest Service had recently replaced some culverts on Forest Road 825 and that the county had assisted in past culvert work.
The presenter said the Forest Service retains responsibility for underground stabilization (the adit/portal) and intends public outreach and a forest-road closure notice ahead of construction. He also warned that a recent federal pause on contracting for larger projects could delay the Forest Service’s portion of work if the contracting freeze is not lifted by the spring contracting window.
Commissioners and staff asked for signage plans, coordination with county road and bridge, and confirmation that local property owners would be notified and given access when safe. The presenter said the contractor’s traffic control plan would address signage and that the Forest Service will coordinate public outreach and closure procedures as the schedule firmed.
