A Proposed Biological Survey of the Berkeley Pit Lake System

Very little is known about the organisms that are impacted by mine waste in the Berkeley Pit Lake System. However, it is known that if heterotrophic and autotrophic organisms are properly nutrified, they can bioremediate mine waste-influenced areas as a benefit of their physiological processes. However, before any type of bioremediation of an ecosystem can begin, it is essential to gain a fundamental understanding of the components of the microbial community. Defining the baseline community structure is the first step toward understanding the interaction of the different biota and toward assessing any improvement in biodiversity within the biotic community. This research will undertake this first step. The specific research goals are primarily to help to set up a laboratory capable of the identification, isolation, and culture of mine waste organisms; to maintain the isolates in culture; to produce a photographic and written record of these organisms; to determine numerical abundance and species diversity of the site; to determine the organisms’ ability to sequester metals; to determine the organisms’ capability to raise pH as a result of nutrification; and to collect useful information that may be applied to other mine waste areas. All of this information together will begin to provide an understanding of the interactions among acid mine environments and the organisms that dwell there. Moreover, Butte is an ideal start-up location for these research activities because of its 100-year tradition of mining. In fact, Butte is at the headwaters of the largest Superfund cleanup project in America. Funding of this proposal request may well be a significant opportunity to invest in the future of bioremediation.