Frequently Asked Questions

  • The ±3,200-acre Caselton Mine Area and Mill Site (Site) is located in Pioche, Nevada, and was once home to various mining and milling operations, dating back to the 1880s. Contamination from mining and milling wastes is present at the Site. Operations ceased at the Site in the 1950s, but some legacy structures remain.

  • The Multistate Environmental Response Trust (Multistate Trust) owns portions of the Site.

    The Multistate Trust is a private, independent, environmental response trust created as part of the 2011 Tronox bankruptcy settlement to own and remediate hundreds of former Tronox/Kerr-McGee sites. The Multistate Trust is responsible for owning, investigating, and cleaning up the Site in Caselton and facilitating its reuse.

  • The main contaminants of concern at the Site are metals, including lead and arsenic, which are found in tailings and waste rock sediments.

  • The Site has been divided into five operable units (OUs) to better manage investigations and determine cleanup options. Read more about the OUs at Cleanup.

    The Multistate Trust, together with the NDEP, has performed investigations and sampling at all OUs except for OU3 (Caselton Mine Site), which is not part of the environmental investigations. The Multistate Trust performed screening-level human health risk assessments for OU1 (2015 and 2017), OU2 (2015), OU4 (2017), and OU5 (2019). The Multistate Trust also performed a screening-level ecological risk assessment for the 8-mile reach downstream of the Caselton Wash tailings ponds (OU5) (2019).

    Sampling has shown elevated levels of lead and arsenic in soil in parts of OU1, OU4, and OU5. Recent investigations have focused on OU1 (Treasure Hill) due to its proximity to residential areas and on OU4 (Caselton Mill Site and Adjacent Tailings) due to ongoing releases of tailings onto properties owned by others.

  • The primary health risk associated with contaminated soil at the Site is incidental ingestion of and/or skin contact with surface soil or tailings with lead and arsenic concentrations above established risk-based screening levels. If you have questions about health effects related to these chemicals in the environment, please contact the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection at 775-687-9484.

  • The public water supply is provided by Pioche Public Utilities and is not sourced from groundwater associated with past mining and milling operations in Pioche or Caselton. Drinking water for Caselton Heights is sourced from Floral Spring, located ±3 miles west of the Caselton Mill Site in the Highland Range and is not hydraulically connected to groundwater near the Site.

  • Both the Caselton Mine Shafts No. 1 and No. 2 will be preserved and are currently secured. The Multistate Trust does not own the Caselton Mill Site buildings; however, the Multistate Trust understands the historical significance and importance of the buildings to the community and endeavors through its reuse planning efforts to retain the buildings.

  • The Site’s future use has not yet been determined. The NDEP and Multistate Trust are pursuing a planning strategy for the Site that is clear, transparent, aligned with community-supported future uses and community interests, and consistent with goals to address economic, social, and environmental challenges associated with past mining and milling operations. The NDEP and Multistate Trust plan to work with community members, stakeholders, and other partners to identify potential future uses that can be integrated into cleanup plans for the Site. Part of the property (Caselton Mill Site) is currently being evaluated as a potential site for renewable solar energy generation. Read more here.

  • Proceeds from the sale of all or any portion of the Site would be used to fund additional cleanup activities at or near the Site. Because the Site in Caselton has limited funding, selling portions of the property that are ready for reuse can help bridge the funding gap for other needed investigations or remediation work.

  • The Tronox Tort Claims Trust (Tort Trust) was established by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to receive and process claims against Tronox for personal injury (health/medical) or property damage. The Multistate Trust is not affiliated with or related to the Tort Trust, and cannot accept, process, or pay personal injury or property damage claims.

    If you have questions about personal injury or property damage claims, please contact the Tort Trust at (800) 753-2480 (toll-free) or tronoxtorttrust@epiqglobal.com. For more information, visit www.tronoxtorttrust.com.

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