Berkeley pit

while in Butte we visited the berkeley pit




Taken from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Pit

The Berkeley Pit is a former open pit copper mine located in Butte, Montana, United States. It is one mile long by half a mile wide with an approximate depth of 1,780 feet (540 m). It is filled to a depth of about 900 feet (270 m) with water that is heavily acidic (2.5 pH level), about the acidity of cola or lemon juice.^[1] As a result, the pit is laden with heavy metals and dangerous chemicals that leach from the rock, includingarsenic, cadmium, zinc, and sulfuric acid.^[1]

The mine was opened in 1955 and operated by Anaconda Copper and later by the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO), until its closure in 1982. When the pit was closed, the water pumps in the nearby Kelly shaft, at a depth of 3,800 feet, were turned off, and groundwater from the surrounding aquifers began to slowly fill the pit, rising at about the rate of one foot a month.^[1] Since the pit closure on Earth Day 1982, the level has risen to within 150 feet of the natural groundwater level.

The pit and its water present a serious environmental problem because the water, with dissolved oxygen, allows pyrite and sulfide minerals in the ore and wall rocks to decay, releasing acid. When the pit water level eventually reaches the natural water table, estimated to occur by around 2020, the pit water will reverse flow back into surrounding groundwater, polluting into Silver Bow Creek which is the headwaters of Clark Fork River.^[1] The acidic water in the pit carries a heavy load of dissolved heavy metals. In fact, the water contains so much dissolved metal (up to 187ppm Cu) that some material is mined directly from the water.

In the 1990s plans were devised for solving the groundwater problem. Water flowing into the pit has been diverted to slow the rise of the water level. Plans have been made for more extensive treatment in the future. The Berkeley Pit has since become one of the largest Superfund sites.

love this shot of my dad and hubby going through the tunnel

also went to the memorial 

people from all over the world lost their lives in the mines

reflective

i love how this one shows the soldier looking into the reflective wall.  the wall has many facets of the war, the people and the machines that happened during that time computer etched into it.  below is only a small section of the wall.



want to see some beuatiful photos of butterflies and other fun things?  check out onenezz and check out the caption this.  I was selected again on the site.  I just love love doing captions check it out: http://onenezz.blogspot.com/2011/06/caption-oops.html

Jefferson memorial

nearing the end of my memorial tours this is the Jefferson monument.  I think it is one of the monuments that doesn't get visited much anymore but then maybe I am wrong. 

one more monument after this and its my favorite.

WW II memorial

part of the memorial each of these stars represents 100 people killed or missing in the war.  there are 4048 stars.  on this part of the memorial.

 

vietnam womens memorial

Most of the women that served in the vietnam war were nurses so this is their memorial.  I found it very moving (yeah I say that a lot don't I?) the faces and expressions are very cool. 

here is the full memorial:







almost 10,000 women were in vietnam serving in some way.  I am happy they are represented in this memorial
 for more information:  http://userpages.aug.com/captbarb/femvetsnam.html

Vietnam soldier memorial

this is the second part of the vietnam war memorial for more information you can visit these two sites:

http://www.visitingdc.com/memorial/vietnam-memorial-photo.htm

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Soldiers

there is one last vietnam memorial but very important one that I will show tomorrow

vietnam memorial wall

teh designer of this memorial was Maya Lin. Lin's conception was to create an opening or a wound in the earth to symbolize the gravity of the loss of the soldiers.  Interesting enough this design was given a B grade in school by her professor at an earlier class she had taken. 

the wall is only part of the vietnam memorial.  Did you know there are 2 more memorials?  tomorrow and the next day I will show those.

Many of you will recall a famous painting by Lee teter where a man is leaning against the wall with the reflections of the soldiers coming back.  I would have loved to somewhat simulate that but impossible to do with the amount of people that visit DC during the day and night so this is my best shot.

lincoln

I was rather impressed at the size of this monument but less impressed with how crowded it was. Not sure why I was expecting less people to be there duh cherry blossom season and all. 



I would have rather had no people in this shot but it does give a perspective of how big Lincoln is.

and this shot shows you how huge the entire monument is

Fala

I love this one but then again I am partial to dogs.  this is FDR in his wheel chair, yes it is there here is proof



this is the backside you can see more.  from another angle you can see the wheels.

the dog is FDR's Scottie named Fala.  His little nose and ears have been rubbed so much they shine



that is the last of the FDR memorial that I will post please check the last few days for more shots and my flickr site for more as well.  Something I didn't mention previously was there are 21 quotes throughout the memorial.  very moving memorial.  if you have time when you visit DC it is a must see.

waterfall

there are several water features in the FDR memorial representing the troubled to calm times in his presidencency. 

ps. almost done with the memorial only one more

standing tall

My visit to DC was during the cherry festival but unfortunately they were not very good this year.  Most of our time there was windy which didn't help either.  but on my first night there we stopped at the FDR memorial I caught a glimpse of the largest memorial the washington monument dedicated to George Washington in the setting sun. 

It measures just over 555 feet tall and can be seen from long distances and other sites that I visited.  50 flags fly around the base of the monument representing all the states. 

I took many pictures of this like any typical tourist it really caught my eye.

line up

I have heard two different terms for this part of the FDR memorial Soup line and Bread line not sure which is most accurate. It depicts the depression era of FDR's term in service.  I found another reference for infromation on the memorial here. 

I hate war

this is part of the FDR memorial in Washington dc.  It was one of my favorite stops on our trip.  made up of several rooms depicting the different terms and symbolizing how they went while he was the president.  I had an excellent guide that told me many facts about the memorial.    the rocks are meant to symbolize the break of the country by the war.    for more information on the memorial check out THIS website as well as the one above.

you will see a few more shots of this memorial in the coming days.