United States v. Iron Mountain Mines, Inc.

MEMORANDUM OF OPINION AND ORDER

This is a CERCLA cost recovery action concerning Iron Mountain Mine, a copper, zinc, and pyrite mine located in Northern California. For over a decade, the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) has been studying Iron Mountain Mine to determine how best to remediate the acid mine drainage-referred to as “AMD” — that is created at the Mine when rain and groundwater react with exposed sulfide deposits. The AMD from Iron Mountain Mine is viewed by the EPA as a particular threat to the nearby Sacramento River. The AMD from Iron Mountain Mine runs into Boulder Creek and Slickrock Creek, both of which flow into Spring Creek. Spring Creek terminates in the Spring Creek Reservoir formed by the Spring Creek Debris Dam. The Spring Creek Debris Dam is located just to the west of an arm of the Keswick Reservoir. Water from Spring Creek flows into the Keswick Reservoir where it mixes with the water of three great rivers — the Sacramento, McCloud, and Pit Rivers — contained behind the Shasta Dam. In this way, AMD-tainted water makes its way from the Spring Creek Reservoir into the Keswick Reservoir from whence the Sacramento giver continues its journey to the…