San Francisco Bay Mercury Cleanup Underway

California legislators approved a 70-year plan to help safeguard San Francisco Bay from mercury in July. The area near New Almaden, Calif., is considered one of the most challenging parts of the cleanup efforts.

Even before the cleanup earned the state's approval, a Santa Clara Valley Water District (SCVWD) team completed a mercury extraction and bank stabilization project at the Guadalupe River near Camden Avenue in Almaden. Projects on upstream banks near McKean Court and Harry Road are underway, too.

"Instead of waiting for the regional board to decide, we are getting out in front of it," said SCVWD deputy operating officer Beau Goldie.

The New Almaden Mine served as one of the world's largest mercury mining projects in the 1800s; runoff from the mines has gathered in the Guadalupe River, flowing through San Jose, Calif., and affecting the bay even today.

California's Water Resources Control Board, in response to health and environmental concerns, approved a plan July 17 aimed at limiting the amount of mercury reaching the bay. The plan lowers the standard annual mercury deposits from 1,200 kg to 700 kg. Researchers will study fish to determine whether these levels are met.

Tom Mumley, assistant executive officer for the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, said the mercury cleanup will take 70 to 100 years to complete. "We consider it one of our biggest accomplishments in terms of our mission to protect the environment," he said. "It's not like we're done, but it's a major step in solving a very complicated problem."

Cleanup crews have been lifting mercury from the soil while lifting sediment out of the Guadalupe River to stop erosion and maintain waterways, a project that has been underway since 2001 in San Jose. The district has also tried to control methyl mercury in Lake Almaden using solar-powered circulators to churn water and limit mercury buildup in insetcts. The Calero, Guadalupe and Almaden reservoirs are other target areas.

To date the bay mercury cleanup project has cost more than $2.6 million. Most of these funds came from the Clean Safe Creeks fund approved by Santa Clara County voters in 2000. District officials said they have enough money to continue the efforts for a few more years but that another county tax effort seems unlikely.

Mumley said most of the heavy toxins from the New Almaden Mine have been cleaned up using federal funds. "As they used to say, 'there's a lot of mercury in them thar hills,'" he added. "And it's going to take a long time to get it out of the bay."

Source: San Jose Mercury News