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| Sep 09, 2010 - 02:37 PM |
Queen City News - Helena's FREE Weekly Newspaper |
Helena, Montana |
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Mine reclamation specialists with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality recently teamed up with staff members from the City of Helena Parks and Recreation Department to close off two adits near a popular local hiking trail.
On Wednesday, June 23, the team sealed off the openings, or adits, with expandable foam that hardens like concrete.
The adits are located across the street from the DeFord Trailhead near Davis Gulch Road in Helena’s south hills. The openings are about three feet in diameter. One adit is 60 yards in length; the other is 20 yards long. Sixty cubic feet of expandable foam was applied to seal off the adits.
“DEQ did this as a public service for the city and the people who live nearby and recreate on the city’s open space lands. The city asked us to help, and we did so gladly to protect public health and safety,” said DEQ Abandoned Mine Program Reclamation Specialist Steve Opp.
“The DeFord Trail is popular, and we don’t want people getting into these tunnels and injuring themselves,” said Helena Natural Resources Coordinator Brad Langsather. “We needed to address the problem adits before an unfortunate incident occurred. DEQ deserves accolades for taking care of them.” Langsather asks that hikers contact him if they notice a potential hazard.
DEQ has been closing mine adits across Montana as they are asked to do so either by local governments or by private landowners, said Mary Ann Dunwell of the agency’s Remediation Division. The city has requested that another adit on Mount Ascension be closed in the near future, she added.
Abandoned mine adits (horizontal openings) and shafts (vertical openings) can pose dangers ranging from pockets of poisonous gas to cave-ins. For more information about abandoned mine hazards, visit http://deq.mt.gov/abandonedmines/hazards.mcpx.
For information about Helena Parks and Recreation, visit http://www.ci.helena.mt.us/departments/parks-recreation.html.
Dunwell said that people may contact her at 841-5016 or mdunwell@mt.gov for a free DVD about the hazards of abandoned mines entitled, “Stay Out, Stay Alive.”
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The Queen City News is published every Wednesday in Helena, MT, by Mossback Media, LLC.
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