Coal mine tunnels at asphalt plant would further increase risk to Renton’s drinking water

Tom and Ed Jones at their new Coal Mine in 1925, on the property now proposed as an Asphalt Plant. Abandoned tunnels will provide a shortcut for “forever” toxins from asphalt production to reach every layer of Renton’s drinking water aquifer. (Photo courtesy of Renton Historical Society)

Question: What is the one thing that would make it even more dangerous for an  asphalt plant to inject toxic runoff into the ground on Renton’s sole source aquifer?

Answer:  Man-made tunnels at the site to carry poison through every clay and sedimentary layer, so that no well is deep enough to be safe.

These 100-year-old photos were taken on the property that is now owned by Lakeside Industries, and proposed for the asphalt plant.  The Coal Mine shown was alternatively known as the Jones Brother’s Mine, the Indian Coal Mine, and the New Black Diamond Coal Mine.  (The “New Black Diamond” name reflects that it replaced what may have been the deepest coal mine in the world in Black Diamond.)

Perhaps the reason the ground percolated so well during the “infiltration test” at the proposed Asphalt Plant site is the miles of mining tunnels that descend from the property.  We may unfortunately never know, as no Environmental Impact Statement was required for locating an asphalt plant here.

In addition to raising further concern about drinking water, the presence of mines on this site raises the risk of sinkholes and landslides at the site.

If you live in Renton, and you don’t favor having the runoff from an Asphalt Plant injected into your sole-source drinking water aquifer via abandoned mining tunnels, please encourage your council and mayor to protect your water by purchasing this site using the authority granted to them by the State of Washington in RCW   8.12.030 .

“Every city and town and each unclassified city and town within the state of Washington, is hereby authorized and empowered to condemn land and property…. either within or without the limits of such city …. for the purpose of protecting such supply of fresh water from pollution”

Renton council can be contacted by emailing council@rentonwa.gov

A comprehensive history of the mining at this location can be found on the facinating personal blog site of a local historian, hiker and explorer Robin Adams.

Thank you Ms. Adams for compiling all of this information, and for so kindly sharing it the public.

Here are links to three of Ms. Adams thorough blog entries that tell the story of the mine at the site of the proposed asphalt plant.

Part One, Part Two, and Part Three,