Industrial Facilities and Mining
Peru Hill Project
The Peru Hill Mill primarily processed zinc sulfide ore. Peru Mining Company,
a subsidiary of Illinois Zinc Company, constructed Peru Hill Mill and operated it
from 1928 to 1967. Barite of America (BOA) acquired the facility in 1979 and operated
it intermittently until 1985, when BOA filed for bankruptcy. Luna County, New Mexico
acquired the property in 2001 and deeded it to the City of Deming, New Mexico.
The City desires to develop this project as an industrial park for future economic
development of the community. To this end, they contracted with Zia to assist
them in involving this project in the EPA and New Mexico Voluntary Remediation and
Brownfields programs, to assist with grants applications and administration and
provide technical support for site assessment, remediation and closure.
The Peru Hill Mill site required large-scale remediation efforts to clean up a 265
acre contamination area within a 1320 acre site. The remediation efforts include
groundwater contamination remediation, soils and asbestos investigations, developing
of a closure / remediation plan, developing a remedial cap system for the contaminated
areas, overseeing closure and remediation activities (including providing construction
staking), overseeing removal/closure of abandoned wells and fuel storage tanks and
developing a final closure report.
Prior to Zia’s involvement, a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment (ESA) was conducted
on a limited area of the Peru Hill Mill site. A review and update consisted
of conducting interviews to obtain information indicating recognized environmental
conditions in connection with the property; and, a review and summary of available
historical aerial photographs and a site survey to assess any differences between
the original ESA and current conditions. Zia provided the City of Deming careful
planning and programming of the actions necessary to determine the extent of contamination
through comparison of the initial ESA with current conditions. This planning
process was aimed at ensuring the City would not have duplication of effort and
costs in developing the remediation response, as well as capturing and characterizing
the full extent of contamination.
Zia’s services involve detailed understanding and application of Environmental Sciences
(data gathering, evaluation & test models, analysis of environmental interactions);
Pollution Prevention, Control, Treatment, and Site Preservation and Restoration
(investigation, abatement design, monitoring and remediation - lead & asbestos);
Environmental Analysis (sample collections and analysis); Management and Movement
of Hazardous Waste (abatement management planning & implementation); Evaluation
of Environmental Technology (lead tailings distribution and asbestos abatement analysis);
Regulatory Compliance (NMED and EPA Brownfields VRP performance standards reporting);
Environmental Data Collection and Analysis (GIS, ACAD, Environmental remediation
design and civil design for cap closure); Computer/Software (data file coordination/integration
within GIS/ACAD software); Briefings (presentation of findings to City of Deming,
NMED and public interests); and, Maintenance of an Administrative Record (reporting
and coordination with NMED, City of Deming).
Zia started the project by providing assistance in pursuing and obtaining funds
for assessment and remediation of the property. More than $1,200,000 in funds
were obtained from various sources.
Zia provided technical support for a Site Investigation (SI) to acquire enough information
to characterize the Site for remedial action requirements and for NMED VRP performance
standards. The specific purposes were: 1) to assess soil conditions in areas of
elevated metal concentrations, as well as in areas of stained soils (caused by leaking
drums, pad-mounted transformers, etc.); 2) to assess subsurface soil conditions;
3) to assess local groundwater quality; 4) to evaluate onsite building structures
for the presence of asbestos; 5) to collect and evaluate costs for the removal of
the identified asbestos and the demolition of the buildings; and 6) to provide information
for a remediation plan development and tailings cap design.
Zia developed a formal remediation plan including design of a cover and cap system
for the tailings area and related technical specifications and construction quality
assurance documents and is overseeing site remediation activities. The project
site is currently entering the final stages of site remediation. The tailings
and windblown contamination has been consolidated and the majority of abandoned
site structures have been removed. Abandoned wells have been located and capped,
a UST was removed and the site Closure Report is in the process of being developed.