A community event will take place next week to explain a scheme for a mine water treatment scheme at Threlkeld.
The proposals will tackle historic metal pollution from abandoned lead mine and improve water quality.
Currently, these mines pollute 25km of rivers from Gategill Beck to Bassenthwaite Lake, including designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).
The Keswick Reminder reported last month that representatives of the Coal Authority had attended a meeting of Threlkeld Parish Council to say that inside the old mine shaft, which is around 1.2km under Blencathra, the old spoil and rock faces were reacting with water deep in the mine and then exiting into Gategill.
Councillors heard that at the mine entrance the amount of cadmium in the water is 268 times the safe level for a river. Lead is 327 times the safe limit and zinc is 2,660 the safe levels.
Members heard that it is a very stable environment in the mine and it will keep on producing this pollution output unless action is taken.
The impact of the mine water, which has a “very acidic” PH of 3.7, as it leaves at a rate of six litres per second, is causing issues with river and lake health downstream.
Councillors heard of a proposal to capture the water at the mine mouth, pipe it down the hill under the C2C path and into a field adjacent to the A66. In the field the water will be treated using cutting edge technology utilising natural chemical mechanisms to treat the water, including planting, settlement ponds and reed beds.
Once it has been treated it will discharge back into the water course. The aim is that 95 per cent of the contaminated metals will be removed at this point.
At the public event at Threlkeld Village Hall on Tuesday, representatives of The Coal Authority and Environment Agency will share the latest updates with the community about a proposed mine water treatment scheme to capture the metals coming out of the abandoned mines before they are released into Gategill Beck.
There will be two sessions:
From 2.30pm to 4pm there will be a drop-in session for community members to speak with staff from the project team, who will be available to answer questions and address concerns.
And from 7pm to 8pm there will be a formal presentation followed by a question and answer session.
Hugh Potter, of the Environment Agency, said: “Our monitoring has shown that 25km of watercourse is polluted by the contaminated groundwater coming from the abandoned Threlkeld mines. This is having an adverse impact on water quality and river wildlife.
“The proposed treatment scheme will significantly decrease current levels of pollution, boosting wildlife and improving these local rivers for future generations.”
