What) The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of 1,780 feet (540 m). It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), about the acidity of cola or lemon juice. As a result, the pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals that leach from the rock, including arsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.
The mine was opened in 1955 and operated until its closure in 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps in the nearby Kelly shaft, at a depth of 3,800 feet, were turned off and groundwater from the surrounding aquifers began to slowly fill the pit at about the rate of one foot a month. Since the pit closure in 1982, the level has risen to within 150 feet of the natural groundwater level.
The pit and
its water present a serious environmental problem because the
water, with dissolved oxygen, allows pyrite and sulfide
minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid.
When the pit water level eventually reaches the natural water
table, estimated to occur by around 2020, the pit water will
reverse flow back into surrounding groundwater, polluting into
Silver Bow Creek which is the headwaters of Clark Fork River.
The acidic water in the pit carries a heavy load of dissolved
heavy metals. In fact, the water contains so much dissolved
metal (up to 187 ppm Cu) that some material is mined directly
from the water. (1)
Where) 200
Shields Avenue 1-406-494-5595
What)
Auditor was a strange dog. For more than 17 years he lived
alone in the barren waste dumps, leach pads, and mine roads
surrounding the rim of the huge Berkeley Pit strip mine in
Butte, Montana. He was an unfriendly, dirty mutt, resembling a
pile of stained rags. The dog shunned human contact, but the
miners respected his toughness and named him "Auditor" because
he would always show up when least expected. They built him a
shanty, made him a bed of rags and left food and water for
him. Auditor defied conventional wisdom that said nothing
could live in the toxic Superfund site. The peaceful looking
"pond" in the Berkeley Pit is poisonous enough to kill birds
that land on it, as several hundred snow geese did in 1995.
Even before
he died in 2003, money was raised to build a monument to the
dreadlocked dog. The larger-than-life, 300 pound bronze statue
with a copper patina has been displayed in a local coffee
shop, then a shopping mall, and currently the Butte-Silver Bow
Chamber of Commerce. The statue will eventually be put on
permanent display at the Berkeley Pit Viewing Stand, along
with a plaque telling Auditor's story. The dog no doubt would
use it as a urinal. (2)
Where) 1000
George Street at the Chamber Visitor and Transportation
Center. Take exit 126 from I-90.
Why) It
seems obvious that I would want to go see the Pit while Pam
would want to see the statue of Auditor. Neither of us
got what we wanted though because this Buckys was only on the
schedule if we decided to take a day off from playing bridge in Missoula. That didn't
happen but I thought I would document these Buckys
anyway. I mean I am still wondering about them so I may
as well find something out. 
