Keywords
Theme:
U.S. Forest Service, Abandoned Mine, Colorado, Environmental Hazard
Description
Abstract
U.S. Forest Service Abandoned Mine Land Inventory Project - Colorado
The Colorado Geological Survey completed an inventory of environmental degradation associated with abandoned and inactive mines on National Forest System lands in Colorado during the years 1991 through 1999. In the course of the inventory, areas with natural acid rock drainage were also noted. Approximately 18,000 abandoned mine-related features were inventoried, including about 900 features that are considered significant enough environmental problems to warrant further investigation. Water quality data, such as pH and conductivity were gathered at all features where water was present, such as draining adits, seepage at the toe of dumps and tailings, and standing water in shafts. Water samples were taken where field tests indicated low pH and/or high conductivity, including several areas with natural acid rock drainage. Samples were analyzed for dissolved and total metals, and for selected anions. All mine locations and data collected by the field geologists were entered on field forms and, subsequently, into a computer database and GIS format.
With the information provided by the inventory, the Forest Service, in cooperation with other agencies, has been able to prioritize abandoned mines for reclamation. In most cases, cleanup is approached on a watershed basis. Mines in priority watersheds were selected for reclamation first. Watershed studies and mine cleanup are taking place or have been completed in the upper Animas River, Willow Creek (tributary to the upper Rio Grande), Chalk Creek (tributary to the upper Arkansas River), the upper Snake River, the Uncompahgre River, the Alamosa River, and additional Colorado watersheds.
During the inventory, evidence of natural water quality degradation was found in areas where little or no evidence of mining activity exists. These areas include the upper Alamosa River, the Middle Fork of Mineral Creek, Peekaboo Gulch, Handcart Gulch, and elsewhere. Water from natural sources has been found to exceed Colorado water quality standards significantly for several metals in these areas and must be considered in reclamation decisions and remedial activities.
Authorship & Personnel
Principal Investigator: Matthew A. Sares
Geographic Information System Coordinator: Randal C. Phillips
John T. Neubert
Robert H. Wood II
Jonathan R. Lovekin
Robert M. Kirkham
Robert G. Benson
Douglas A. Fehlmann
Randall K. Streufert
Clarence E. Ellis
Jonathan L. White
Andrew J. Flurkey
Peter W. Nichols
Christopher Lawson
John P. Cann, IV
Peter Stelling
S. Donald Brown
Peter A. Dodson
Joseph Klein
J.T. Harris
Michael J. Satre
William M. Sheriff
GIS Administration: Jason Wilson, Nick Watterson, William James
Purpose
The information in this digital dataset and the associated summary reports for each USFS Ranger District are useful for State and Federal agencies in prioritizing mine land reclamation and environmental remediation activities on a statewide basis. The data will also be helpful in developing realistic and cost-effective site reclamation plans on the local level.
_________________
Status of the data
Complete
Data update frequency:
None planned
Time period for which the data is relevant
Date and time:
REQUIRED: The year (and optionally month, or month and day) for which the data set corresponds to the ground.
Publication Information
Who created the data: Colorado Geological Survey
Date and time:
2011
Publisher and place:
CGS, Denver
Series name: USFS Abandoned Mine Land Inventory
_________________
Data storage and access information
File name: HDR_Mine_Inventory_Areas_Final
Type of data: vector digital data
Location of the data:
\\DNRDENGIS\CGS_1\Environmental\USFS-AML\Final_2011\USFS Abandoned Mine Land Inventory.mdb
Data processing environment: Microsoft Windows XP Version 5.1 (Build 2600) Service Pack 3; ESRI ArcCatalog 9.3.1.3000
Constraints on accessing and using the data
Access constraints:
None
Use constraints:
The Department of Natural Resoureces ("DNR") is not responsible and shall not be liable to the user for damages or any kind arising out of the use of data or information provided by the DNR, including the installation of the data or information, its use, or the results obtained from its use. ANY DATA OR INFORMATION PROVIDED BY THE DNR IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIESOF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAT PURPOSE. Data or information provided by the DNR shall be used and relied upon only at the user's sole risk, and the user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless the DNR, its officials, officers and employees from any liability arising out of the use of the data/information provided.
Details about this document
Contents last updated: 20110603
at time 10421900
Who completed this document
William James
Colorado Geological Survey
physical address:
1313 Sherman Streeet, Room 715
Denver, Colorado 80203
(303) 866-2611 (voice)
(303) 866- 2461 (fax)
Standards used to create this document
Horizontal coordinate system
Projected coordinate system name: NAD_1983_UTM_Zone_13N
Geographic coordinate system name: GCS_North_American_1983
Details
Grid Coordinate System Name: Universal Transverse Mercator
UTM Zone Number: 13
Transverse Mercator Projection
Scale Factor at Central Meridian: 0.999600
Longitude of Central Meridian: -105.000000
Latitude of Projection Origin: 0.000000
False Easting: 500000.000000
False Northing: 0.000000
Planar Coordinate Information
Planar Distance Units: meters
Coordinate Encoding Method: coordinate pair
Coordinate Representation
Abscissa Resolution: 0.000000
Ordinate Resolution: 0.000000
Geodetic Model
Horizontal Datum Name: North American Datum of 1983
Ellipsoid Name: Geodetic Reference System 80
Semi-major Axis: 6378137.000000
Denominator of Flattening Ratio: 298.257222
Altitude System Definition
Resolution: 0.000100
Encoding Method: Explicit elevation coordinate included with horizontal coordinates
_________________
Bounding coordinates
Horizontal
In decimal degrees
West:
-108.944433
East:
-102.397542
North:
41.005961
South:
36.996403
In projected or local coordinates
Left: 167921.174400
Right: 718958.822100
Top: 4539418.843400
Bottom: 4100985.615900
_________________
Lineage
FGDC lineage
Process step 1
Process description: The USFS Abandoned Mine Land Inventory - Colorado was originally created using database software and early versions of ArcGIS (e.g. dBase IV, Lotus 1,2,3, Excel versions, ArcView 3.2 and following versions). To update the project and merge these various data types into a single package in ArcGIS 9.3 a number of issues had to be resolved.
First, in these publications the comment fields were stored in a separate file that linked to the features in Arc. In order to migrate the comment fields from the tables in which they resided to ArcGIS the UniqueID field was created through a concatenation of REGION, STATE, FOREST, RGR_DIST, XUTM, YUTM, AREAID, and the feature number (either HID, PID, WID). After removing various artifact characters (line breaks, carriage returns, ect.) from the comment files the resulting "cleaned" tables were joined to their corresponding feature classes using the UniqueID field. (The comments for the 300-series water test sites were not previously integrated and were merged from 20+ Excel spreadsheets before they could be migrated into ArcGIS.)
Second, the null values had been lost from fields in each feature class having been replaced with zeros. In order to restore these values the original tables containing these nulls (store as excel spreadsheets) were joined to the feature classes and the fields missing nulls in Arc were replaced with the fields from the spreadsheet.
Third, the original publication utilized a code system that required the user to look up codes in order to interpret the data stored in each field. For instance, access to a mine opening was denoted as N= no trail, T= Trail, or J= jeep road. This code system was replaced with each field being populated with full definitions.
Fourth, the 300-series water test sites for the early 1991-1992 initial pilot project were not plotted and had to be digitized. These 200 or so points were plotted by first assigning them the centroid of the inventory area to which they were tied and then moving them to their correct position by using the sketch maps of the inventory areas provided in the original data sheets.
Fifth, the photos of each feature were integrated into the current ArcGIS geodatabase. A Lotus 1,2,3 file that catalogued each photo and associated it to the corresponding feature(s) was used to create a feature class that provided the photos with a geographic location. The Lotus 1,2,3 file was opened in Access, and then exported into Excel. A UniqueID composed of XUTM, YUTM, and AREAID was created for each photo and then used to give the photos the location of the centroid of each inventory area. The table was then brought into ArcGIS where the inventory areas feature class were spatially joined to each photo creating a polygon, photo feature class.
The result of this work flow is a consolidated geodatabase that contains all of the data found on the original field forms as well as the photo of each feature. The features present in the geodatabase retain the location accuracy of the original digitization.
Process date: 2011
Process step 2
Process description: Metadata imported.
Source used: C:\DOCUME~1\jameswil\LOCALS~1\Temp\xml107.tmp
Process date: 20110603
at time 10411300
_________________
Spatial data quality
Horizontal positional accuracy
Data were plotted on USGS 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle maps and subsequently digitized into GIS.
_________________
Spatial data description
Vector data information
ESRI description
HDR_Mine_Inventory_Areas_Final
ESRI feature type: Simple
Geometry type: Polygon
Topology: FALSE
Feature count: 2742
Spatial Index: TRUE
Linear referencing: FALSE
SDTS description
Feature class: SDTS feature type, feature count
HDR_Mine_Inventory_Areas_Final:
G-polygon, 2742
Details for HDR_Mine_Inventory_Areas_Final
Type of object: Feature Class
Number of records: 2742
Description
The HDR record is the header sheet data record. The header sheet contains the information recorded by the field geologist on the cover sheet of the field data form. There is exactly one HDR record for each field form completed. This information includes the location, topography, vegetation, and other characteristics of the inventory area. The outer boundary of this area is recorded in the GIS data files as a closed polygon that contains all the sites documented on the field data sheet. The numeric identifiers of the inventory area are shared by all sites that fall within the area.
Source: CGS
Attributes
OBJECTID
Alias: OBJECTID
Data type: OID
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Internal feature number.
Definition Source: ESRI
Shape
Alias: Shape
Data type: Geometry
Width: 0
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Feature geometry.
Definition Source: ESRI
REGION
Alias: REGION
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: USFS Region code, value=2 for all sites in Colorado.
Definition Source: CGS
STATE
Alias: STATE
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: USFS State code, value=8 for all sites in Colorado.
Definition Source: CGS
FOREST
Alias: FOREST
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: USFS Forest code, values are derived from information obtained from the Denver Regional Office. This code is used to uniquely identify the National Forest that the data were collected in. Due to mergers of some forests since the beginning of this project some numbers may have been changed by the US Forest Service. When recent values were not available, unique numbers were assigned by the project data administrator unit current values could be obtained.
Definition Source: CGS
RGR_DIST
Alias: RGR_DIST
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: USFS ranger district code, values are derived from information obtained from the Denver Regional Office. This code is used to uniquely identify the ranger district that the data were collected in. Due to mergers of some forests and ranger districts since the beginning of this project some numbers may have been changed by the US Forest Service. When recent values were not available, unique numbers were assigned by the project data administrator until current values could be obtained.
Definition Source: CGS
UTM_ZONE
Alias: UTM_ZONE
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) Zone in which the feature is located. Value=13. Early in the project this value was included so that areas west of 108 degrees west longitude could be uniquely located. UTM coordinates are not unique but are tied to the zone in which they reside. The western boundary of zone 13, which covers most of Colorado, falls at 108 west longitude. It was later realized that all GIS data could be stored in zone 13 without danger of duplicating values, as a result it was decided to set this value to 13 in recognition of the fact that all GIS files are stored in the UTM Zone 13 map projection.
Definition Source: CGS
XUTM
Alias: XUTM
Data type: SmallInteger
Width: 2
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Unique X coordinate based on the X coordinate of the lower left corner of the 1000 meter UTM grid containing the majority of the inventory area. This value will range from about 138 to 765 depending on the longitude of the site.
Definition Source: CGS
YUTM
Alias: YUTM
Data type: SmallInteger
Width: 2
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Unique Y coordinate based on the Y coordinate of the lower left corner of the 1000 meter UTM grid containing the majority of the inventory area. This value will range from about 4000 to 4550 depending on the latitude of the site.
Definition Source: CGS
AREAID
Alias: AREAID
Data type: SmallInteger
Width: 2
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Unique identifier for densely mined areas where more than one inventory area may occur in the same UTM grid cell mentioned above. Values range from 1 to 3 usually and rarely 4 or more.
Definition Source: CGS
NHOLE
Alias: NHOLE
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of mine features occurring in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
NPILE
Alias: NPILE
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of mine dumps and similar features occurring in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
NWATER
Alias: NWATER
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of water tests performed in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
SITENAME_1
Alias: SITENAME_1
Data type: String
Width: 60
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Primary name associated with the inventory area, or sites contained within it. Usually based on literature or map notations. When none were available then geographic names and relative references were used.
Definition Source: CGS
SITENAME_2
Alias: SITENAME_2
Data type: String
Width: 60
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Secondary name associated with the inventory area, or sites contained within it. Usually based on literature or map notations. When none were available then geographic names and relative references were used. References to literature sources may also be included in this field.
Definition Source: CGS
ENVIRO_HAZARD
Alias: ENVIRO_HAZARD
Data type: String
Width: 100
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Highest priority environmental degradation present in the inventory area. (Unknown was used to rate sites that were documented but not actually visited).
Definition Source: CGS
PHYSICAL_HAZARD
Alias: PHYSICAL_HAZARD
Data type: String
Width: 100
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Highest priority mine hazard (also referred to as "physical hazard") present in the inventory area. (Unknown was used to rate sites that were documented but not actually visited).
Definition Source: CGS
MAX_RADS
Alias: MAX_RADS
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Maximum radiation measurement obtained within the inventory area. Consult the hole and pile records for specific information about radiation measurements, units of measure and other relevant information.
Definition Source: CGS
COMMOD
Alias: COMMOD
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Code representing the class of commodity mined in the area.
Definition Source: CGS
COMMOD_T
Alias: COMMOD_T
Data type: String
Width: 20
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Type of commodity mined in the area. Values vary depending upon the region. May include Gold, Silver, Gravel, etc.
Definition Source: CGS
QUADNAME
Alias: QUADNAME
Data type: String
Width: 24
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of USGS 1:24,000 scale base map in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
QUADDATE
Alias: QUADDATE
Data type: SmallInteger
Width: 2
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Date of issue of USGS 1:24,000 scale base map in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
COUNTY
Alias: COUNTY
Data type: String
Width: 20
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: County in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
TWODEGNAME
Alias: TWODEGNAME
Data type: String
Width: 24
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of USGS 1:250,000 scale base map in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
WCU
Alias: WCU
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Numeric identifier of EPA defined water cataloguing unit in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
MINE_DIST
Alias: MINE_DIST
Data type: String
Width: 30
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Mining district or other industry recognized designation for the area in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
QQQ
Alias: QQQ
Data type: String
Width: 12
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Aliquot part of the section in which the inventory area occurs. The order of quarter designation goes from smallest to largest as in"NW of the Southwest of the Northeast quarter of section 6."
Definition Source: CGS
SECD
Alias: SECD
Data type: SmallInteger
Width: 2
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of the section in which the inventory area occurs. Values are from 1 to 36.
Definition Source: CGS
TWP
Alias: TWP
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of the township in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
TWPD
Alias: TWPD
Data type: String
Width: 1
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Direction of the township in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
RGE
Alias: RGE
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of the range in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
RGED
Alias: RGED
Data type: String
Width: 1
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Direction of the range in which the inventory area occurs.
Definition Source: CGS
NEAR_STRM
Alias: NEAR_STRM
Data type: String
Width: 20
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of the stream flowing nearest to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
NEXT_STRM
Alias: NEXT_STRM
Data type: String
Width: 20
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of the stream into which NEAR_STRM flows.
Definition Source: CGS
ELEV
Alias: ELEV
Data type: Integer
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Approximate elevation of the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
SLOPE
Alias: Slope
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Slope of the terrain in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
TERRAIN
Alias: TERRAIN
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Type of the terrain in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
ACCESS_T
Alias: ACCESS_T
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Type of access to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
ACCESS_Q
Alias: ACCESS_Q
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Quality of access to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
NEAR_TOWN
Alias: NEAR_TOWN
Data type: String
Width: 20
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of nearest town to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
DIST_TOWN
Alias: DIST_TOWN
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Distance to town nearest the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
NEAR_ROAD
Alias: NEAR_ROAD
Data type: String
Width: 30
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of nearest road to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
DIST_ROAD
Alias: DIST_ROAD
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Distance to road nearest the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
DIST_DWELL
Alias: DIST_DWELL
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Distance to inhabited dwelling nearest the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
DIST_CAMP
Alias: DIST_CAMP
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Distance to campground nearest the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
DIST_TRAIL
Alias: DIST_TRAIL
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Distance to trail nearest the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
DIST_OTHER
Alias: DIST_OTHER
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Distance to other feature(s) nearest the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
OTHER_DESC
Alias: OTHER_DESC
Data type: String
Width: 20
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Description of other feature(s) nearest the inventory area, such as an unmarked trail, informal campground, cross-country ski hut, etc.
Definition Source: CGS
VEG_DENSE
Alias: VEG_DENSE
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Density of vegetation in undisturbed areas adjacent to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
VEG_T
Alias: VEG_T
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Type of vegetation in undisturbed areas adjacent to the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
BATS
Alias: BATS
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Evidence of bat activity in/near any mine opening within the inventory area. Only positive evidence is recorded as "Yes". An answer of "No" does not ascertain the absence of bats, only that no positive evidence of bats was found.
Definition Source: CGS
RECLAIMED
Alias: RECLAIMED
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Has any reclamation been done in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
ACRES
Alias: ACRES
Data type: Single
Width: 4
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Number of acres reclaimed.
Definition Source: CGS
HIST_STR
Alias: HIST_STR
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Are there any historical structures in the inventory area.
Definition Source: CGS
HSTGENCMMT
Alias: HSTGENCMMT
Data type: String
Width: 10
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Comments about the site in general or the historical structures. This is a dBase memo field that is accessible from dBase or MSAccess.
Definition Source: CGS
RECORDER
Alias: RECORDER
Data type: String
Width: 40
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Name of geologist who completed the inventory form with date of site visit.
Definition Source: CGS
Comments
Alias: Comments
Data type: String
Width: 2147483647
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: General comments on whole inventory area or group of mine features. A "31." preceding any comment denotes that it is a comment about historical structures in the area. A "29." denotes the comment refers to evidence of intentional reclamation.
Definition Source: CGS
Shape_Length
Alias: Shape_Length
Data type: Double
Width: 8
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Length of feature in internal units.
Definition Source: ESRI
Shape_Area
Alias: Shape_Area
Data type: Double
Width: 8
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Area of feature in internal units squared.
Definition Source: ESRI
UniqueID
Alias: UniqueID
Data type: String
Width: 50
Precision: 0
Scale: 0
Definition: Unique ID created through concatenation of REGION, STATE, FOREST, RGR_DIST, XUTM, YUTM, AREAID.
Definition Source: CGS