The Hazel Creek Mine is a historic gold mine in El Dorado County, California. The mine was last active in the early 1980s, and then abandoned, leaving several piles of mine tailings and open mine workings.
The property owner was issued a Cleanup and Abatement Order by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board (CRWQCB). Lead in the tailings was the chemical of concern at this site. The mine tailings were a threat to water quality because of the acid-generating characteristic and some of the tailings were located within a flood plain.
The mine was capped with 1-foot of compacted soil overlain by a one-foot vegetative layer using material native to the site and seeded with endemic grass species.
Since its construction in 1998, the WMU, , has been monitored and reported by the client and Carlton through Waste Discharge Requirements (WDRs) issued by the CRWQCB. No water quality impacts have been detected at the site since the WMU construction.