Wade V Lewis / Arthritis and Radioactivity Story of Montana PLUS ONE PLANET

Description: First edition ARTHRITIS; very good shape; dust wrapper is stained from the boards (red) and has chips and edge wear. I'd say 7/10 on the DJ. Book is clean and tight, but boards must have gotten wet at some point as the red dye has stained the DJ. One Planet, Many Worlds, 1949 is like new, lacking a DJ. Wade Lewis is one of the country's loveable crackpots: he not only popularized sitting in a radioactive mine in Montana as a health approach, but he truly believed that the solution to all world conflict was....baseball. Read all about it in ONE PLANET. Truly one of Montana's most colorful cranks. FREE SHIPPING WIKIPEDIA: The health effects of radon are harmful, and include an increased chance of lung cancer. Radon is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, which has been studied by a number of scientific and medical bodies for its effects on health. A naturally-occurring gas formed as a decay product of radium, radon is one of the densest substances that remains a gas under normal conditions, and is considered to be a health hazard due to its radioactivity. Its most stable isotope, radon-222, has a half-life of 3.8 days. Due to its high radioactivity, it has been less well studied by chemists, but a few compounds are known. Radon-222 is formed as part of the uranium series i.e. the normal radioactive decay chain of uranium-238 that terminates in lead-206. Uranium has been present since the Earth was formed, and its most common isotope has a very long half-life (4.5 billion years), which is the time required for one-half of uranium to break down. Thus, uranium and radon will continue to occur for millions of years at about the same concentrations as they do now.[1] Radon is responsible for the majority of public exposure to ionizing radiation. It is often the single largest contributor to an individual's background radiation dose, and is the most variable from location to location. Radon gas from natural sources can accumulate in buildings, especially in confined areas such as attics and basements. It can also be found in some spring waters and hot springs.[2] According to a 2003 report EPA's Assessment of Risks from Radon in Homes from the United States Environmental Protection Agency, epidemiological evidence shows a clear link between lung cancer and high concentrations of radon, with 21,000 radon-induced U.S. lung cancer deaths per year—second only to cigarette smoking.[3] Thus in geographic areas where radon is present in heightened concentrations, radon is considered a significant indoor air contaminant. OccurrenceSee also: Radium and radon in the environment Concentration units210 Pb is formed from the decay of 222 Rn. Here is a typical deposition rate of 210 Pb as observed in Japan as a function of time, due to variations in radon concentration.[4] Radon concentration in the atmosphere is usually measured in becquerels per cubic meter (Bq/m3), which is an SI derived unit. As a frame of reference, typical domestic exposures are about 100 Bq/m3 indoors and 10–20 Bq/m3 outdoors. In the US, radon concentrations are often measured in picocuries per liter (pCi/L), with 1 pCi/L = 37 Bq/m3.[5] The mining industry traditionally measures exposure using the working level (WL) index, and the cumulative exposure in working level months (WLM): 1 WL equals any combination of short-lived 222 Rn progeny (218 Po, 214 Pb, 214 Bi, and 214 Po) in 1 liter of air that releases 1.3 × 105 MeV of potential alpha energy;[5] one WL is equivalent to 2.08 × 10−5 joules per cubic meter of air (J/m3).[1] The SI unit of cumulative exposure is expressed in joule-hours per cubic meter (J·h/m3). One WLM is equivalent to 3.6 × 10−3 J·h/m3. An exposure to 1 WL for 1 working month (170 hours) equals 1 WLM cumulative exposure. A cumulative exposure of 1 WLM is roughly equivalent to living one year in an atmosphere with a radon concentration of 230 Bq/m3.[6] The radon (222 Rn) released into the air decays to 210 Pb and other radioisotopes. The levels of 210 Pb can be measured. The rate of deposition of this radioisotope is dependent on the weather.[citation needed] NaturalRadon concentration next to a uranium mine Radon concentrations found in natural environments are much too low to be detected by chemical means: for example, a 1000 Bq/m3 (relatively high) concentration corresponds to 0.17 picogram per cubic meter. The average concentration of radon in the atmosphere is about 6×10−20 atoms of radon for each molecule in the air, or about 150 atoms in each mL of air.[7] The entire radon activity of the Earth's atmosphere at any one time is due to some tens of grams of radon, constantly being replaced by decay of larger amounts of radium and uranium.[8] Its concentration can vary greatly from place to place. In the open air, it ranges from 1 to 100 Bq/m3, even less (0.1 Bq/m3) above the ocean. In caves, aerated mines, or poorly ventilated dwellings, its concentration can climb to 20–2,000 Bq/m3.[9] In mining contexts, radon concentrations can be much higher. Ventilation regulations try to maintain concentrations in uranium mines under the "working level", and under 3 WL (546 pCi 222 Rn per liter of air; 20.2 kBq/m3 measured from 1976 to 1985) 95 percent of the time.[1] The concentration in the air at the (unventilated) Gastein Healing Gallery averages 43 kBq/m3 (about 1.2 nCi/L) with maximal value of 160 kBq/m3 (about 4.3 nCi/L).[10] Radon emanates naturally from the ground and from some building materials all over the world, wherever there are traces of uranium or thorium, and particularly in regions with soils containing granite or shale, which have a higher concentration of uranium. In every 1 square mile of surface soil, the first 6 inches (150 mm) (of depth) contains about 0.035 oz of radium (0.4 g per km2) which releases radon in small amounts to the atmosphere.[1] Sand used in making concrete is the major source of radon in buildings.[11] On a global scale, it is estimated that 2,400 million curies (91 TBq) of radon are released from soil annually. Not all granitic regions are prone to high emissions of radon. Being an unreactive noble gas, it usually migrates freely through faults and fragmented soils, and may accumulate in caves or water. Due to its very small half-life (four days for 222 Rn), its concentration decreases very quickly when the distance from the production area increases.[citation needed] Its atmospheric concentration varies greatly depending on the season and conditions. For instance, it has been shown to accumulate in the air if there is a meteorological inversion and little wind.[12] Because atmospheric radon concentrations are very low, radon-rich water exposed to air continually loses radon by volatilization. Hence, ground water generally has higher concentrations of 222 Rn than surface water, because the radon is continuously replenished by radioactive decay of 226 Ra present in rocks. Likewise, the saturated zone of a soil frequently has a higher radon content than the unsaturated zone because of diffusional losses to the atmosphere.[13][14] As a below-ground source of water, some springs—including hot springs—contain significant amounts of radon.[15] The towns of Boulder, Montana; Misasa; Bad Kreuznach, and the country of Japan have radium-rich springs which emit radon. To be classified as a radon mineral water, radon concentration must be above a minimum of 2 nCi/L (7 Bq/L).[16] The activity of radon mineral water reaches 2,000 Bq/L in Merano and 4,000 Bq/L in the village of Lurisia (Ligurian Alps, Italy).[10] Radon is also found in some petroleum. Because radon has a similar pressure and temperature curve to propane, and oil refineries separate petrochemicals based on their boiling points, the piping carrying freshly separated propane in oil refineries can become partially radioactive due to radon decay particles. Residues from the oil and gas industry often contain radium and its daughters. The sulfate scale from an oil well can be radium rich, while the water, oil, and gas from a well often contains radon. The radon decays to form solid radioisotopes which form coatings on the inside of pipework. In an oil processing plant, the area of the plant where propane is processed is often one of the more contaminated areas, because radon has a similar boiling point to propane.[17] Accumulation in dwellingsTypical Lognormal radon distribution in dwellings Typical domestic exposures are of around 100 Bq/m3 indoors, but specifics of construction and ventilation strongly affect levels of accumulation; a further complication for risk assessment is that concentrations in a single location may differ by a factor of two over an hour, and concentrations can vary greatly even between two adjoining rooms in the same structure.[1] The distribution of radon concentrations is highly skewed: the larger concentrations have a disproportionately greater weight. Indoor radon concentration is usually assumed to follow a lognormal distribution on a given territory.[18] Thus, the geometric mean is generally used to estimate the "average" radon concentration in an area.[19] The mean concentration ranges from less than 10 Bq/m3 to over 100 Bq/m3 in some European countries.[20] Typical geometric standard deviations found in studies range between 2 and 3, meaning (given the 68–95–99.7 rule) that the radon concentration is expected to be more than a hundred times the mean concentration for 2 to 3% of the cases. The so-called "Watras incident" in 1984 is named for American construction engineer Stanley Watras, an employee at the Limerick nuclear power plant in the United States, who triggered radiation monitors while leaving work over several days—even though the plant had not yet been fueled, and despite Watras being decontaminated and sent home "clean" each evening. This pointed to a source of contamination outside the power plant, which turned out to be radon levels of 100,000 Bq/m3 (2.7 nCi/L) in the basement of his home. He was told that living in the home was the equivalent of smoking 135 packs of cigarettes a day, and he and his family had increased their risk of developing lung cancer by 13 or 14 percent.[21] The incident dramatized the fact that radon levels in particular dwellings can occasionally be orders of magnitude higher than typical.[22] Radon soon became a standard homeowner concern,[23] though typical domestic exposures are two to three orders of magnitude lower (100 Bq/m3, or 2.5 pCi/L),[24] making individual testing essential to assessment of radon risk in any particular dwelling. Radon exists in every U.S. state, and about 6% of American houses have elevated levels[citation needed]. The highest average radon concentrations in the United States are found in Iowa and in the Appalachian Mountain areas in southeastern Pennsylvania.[25] Some of the highest readings have been recorded in Mallow, County Cork, Ireland. Iowa has the highest average radon concentrations in the United States due to significant glaciation that ground the granitic rocks from the Canadian Shield and deposited it as soils making up the rich Iowa farmland.[26] Many cities within the state, such as Iowa City, have passed requirements for radon-resistant construction in new homes. In a few locations, uranium tailings have been used for landfills and were subsequently built on, resulting in possible increased exposure to radon.[1] Jewelry contamination In the early 20th century, 210 Pb-contaminated gold, from gold seeds that were used in radiotherapy which had held 222 Rn, were melted down and made into a small number of jewelry pieces, such as rings, in the U.S.[27][28] Wearing such a contaminated ring could lead to a skin exposure of 10 to 100 millirad/day (0.004 to 0.04 mSv/h).[29] Health effectsCancer in minersRelative risk of lung cancer mortality by cumulative exposure to radon decay products (in WLM) from the combined data from 11 cohorts of underground hard rock miners. Though high exposures (>50 WLM) cause statistically significant excess cancers, the evidence on small exposures (10 WLM) is inconclusive and appears slightly beneficial in this study (see radiation hormesis). The health effects of high exposure to radon in mines, where exposures reaching 1,000,000 Bq/m3 can be found, can be recognized in Paracelsus' 1530 description of a wasting disease of miners, the mala metallorum. Though at the time radon itself was not understood to be the cause—indeed, neither it nor radiation had even been discovered—mineralogist Georg Agricola recommended ventilation of mines to avoid this mountain sickness (Bergsucht).[30][31] In 1879, the "wasting" was identified as lung cancer by Herting and Hesse in their investigation of miners from Schneeberg, Saxony, Germany. Given that the type locality of the important uranium ore pitchblende is in the Ore Mountains and that region was the most important German speaking mining area at the time, it is likely the radon induced lung cancers were associated with uranium.[citation needed] Beyond mining in general, radon is a particular problem in the mining of uranium; significant excess lung cancer deaths have been identified in epidemiological studies of uranium miners and other hard-rock miners employed in the 1940s and 1950s.[32][33][34] Residues from processing of uranium ore can also be a source of radon. Radon resulting from the high radium content in uncovered dumps and tailing ponds can be easily released into the atmosphere.[35] Modern mining techniques, including better ventilation for underground mines, routine radiation monitoring as well as technologies like in-situ leaching have helped decrease the incidence of radon exposure among miners in subsequent decades.[citation needed] The first major studies with radon and health occurred in the context of uranium mining, first in the Joachimsthal region of Bohemia and then in the Southwestern United States during the early Cold War. Because radon is a product of the radioactive decay of uranium, underground uranium mines may have high concentrations of radon. Many uranium miners in the Four Corners region contracted lung cancer and other pathologies as a result of high levels of exposure to radon in the mid-1950s. The increased incidence of lung cancer was particularly pronounced among Native American and Mormon miners, because those groups normally have low rates of lung cancer.[36] Safety standards requiring expensive ventilation were not widely implemented or policed during this period.[37] In studies of uranium miners, workers exposed to radon levels of 50 to 150 picocuries of radon per liter of air (2000–6000 Bq/m3) for about 10 years have shown an increased frequency of lung cancer.[1] Statistically significant excesses in lung cancer deaths were present after cumulative exposures of less than 50 WLM.[1] There is, however, unexplained heterogeneity in these results (whose confidence interval do not always overlap).[5] The size of the radon-related increase in lung cancer risk varied by more than an order of magnitude between the different studies.[38] Heterogeneities are possibly due to systematic errors in exposure ascertainment, unaccounted for differences in the study populations (genetic, lifestyle, etc.), or confounding mine exposures.[5] There are a number of confounding factors to consider, including exposure to other agents, ethnicity, smoking history, and work experience. The cases reported in these miners cannot be attributed solely to radon or radon daughters but may be due to exposure to silica, to other mine pollutants, to smoking, or to other causes.[1][39] The majority of miners in the studies are smokers and all inhale dust and other pollutants in mines. Because radon and cigarette smoke both cause lung-cancer, and since the effect of smoking is far above that of radon, it is complicated to disentangle the effects of the two kinds of exposure; misinterpreting the smoking habit by a few percent can blur out the radon effect.[40] Since that time, ventilation and other measures have been used to reduce radon levels in most affected mines that continue to operate. In recent years, the average annual exposure of uranium miners has fallen to levels similar to the concentrations inhaled in some homes. This has reduced the risk of occupationally induced cancer from radon, although it still remains an issue both for those who are currently employed in affected mines and for those who have been employed in the past.[38] The power to detect any excess risks in miners nowadays is likely to be small, exposures being much smaller than in the early years of mining.[41] A confounding factor with mines is that both radon concentration and carcinogenic dust (such as quartz dust) depend on the amount of ventilation.[42] This makes it very difficult to state that radon causes cancer in miners; the lung cancers could be partially or wholly caused by high dust concentrations from poor ventilation.[42] Health risks Radon-222 has been classified by International Agency for Research on Cancer as being carcinogenic to humans.[43] In September 2009, the World Health Organization released a comprehensive global initiative on radon that recommended a reference level of 100 Bq/m3 for radon, urging establishment or strengthening of radon measurement and mitigation programs as well as development building codes requiring radon prevention measures in homes under construction.[44] Elevated lung cancer rates have been reported from a number of cohort and case-control studies of underground miners exposed to radon and its decay products but the main confounding factor in all miners' studies is smoking and dust. Up to the most of regulatory bodies there is sufficient evidence for the carcinogenicity of radon and its decay products in humans for such exposures.[45] However, the discussion about the opposite results is still going on,[46][47] especially a recent retrospective case-control study of lung cancer risk showed substantial cancer rate reduction between 50 and 123 Bq per cubic meter relative to a group at zero to 25 Bq per cubic meter.[48] Additionally, the meta-analysis of many radon studies, which independently show radon risk increase, gives no confirmation of that conclusion: the joined data show log-normal distribution with the maximal value in zero risk of lung cancer below 800 Bq per cubic meter.[49] The primary route of exposure to radon and its progeny is inhalation. Radiation exposure from radon is indirect. The health hazard from radon does not come primarily from radon itself, but rather from the radioactive products formed in the decay of radon.[1] The general effects of radon to the human body are caused by its radioactivity and consequent risk of radiation-induced cancer. Lung cancer is the only observed consequence of high concentration radon exposures; both human and animal studies indicate that the lung and respiratory system are the primary targets of radon daughter-induced toxicity.[1] Radon has a short half-life (3.8 days) and decays into other solid particulate radium-series radioactive nuclides. Two of these decay products, polonium-218 and 214, present a significant radiologic hazard.[50] If the gas is inhaled, the radon atoms decay in the airways or the lungs, resulting in radioactive polonium and ultimately lead atoms attaching to the nearest tissue. If dust or aerosol is inhaled that already carries radon decay products, the deposition pattern of the decay products in the respiratory tract depends on the behaviour of the particles in the lungs. Smaller diameter particles diffuse further into the respiratory system, whereas the larger—tens to hundreds of micron-sized—particles often deposit higher in the airways and are cleared by the body's mucociliary staircase. Deposited radioactive atoms or dust or aerosol particles continue to decay, causing continued exposure by emitting energetic alpha radiation with some associated gamma radiation too, that can damage vital molecules in lung cells,[51] by either creating free radicals or causing DNA breaks or damage,[50] perhaps causing mutations that sometimes turn cancerous. In addition, through ingestion and blood transport, following crossing of the lung membrane by radon, radioactive progeny may also be transported to other parts of the body.[citation needed] The risk of lung cancer caused by smoking is much higher than the risk of lung cancer caused by indoor radon. Radiation from radon has been attributed to increase of lung cancer among smokers too. It is generally believed that exposure to radon and cigarette smoking are synergistic; that is, that the combined effect exceeds the sum of their independent effects. This is because the daughters of radon often become attached to smoke and dust particles, and are then able to lodge in the lungs.[52] It is unknown whether radon causes other types of cancer, but recent studies suggest a need for further studies to assess the relationship between radon and leukemia.[53][54] The effects of radon, if found in food or drinking water, are unknown. Following ingestion of radon dissolved in water, the biological half-life for removal of radon from the body ranges from 30 to 70 minutes. More than 90% of the absorbed radon is eliminated by exhalation within 100 minutes, By 600 minutes, only 1% of the absorbed amount remains in the body.[1] Health risks in children While radon presents the aforementioned risks in adults, exposure in children leads to a unique set of health hazards that are still being researched. The physical composition of children leads to faster rates of exposure through inhalation given that their respiratory rate is higher than that of adults, resulting in more gas exchange and more potential opportunities for radon to be inhaled.[55] The resulting health effects in children are similar to those of adults, predominantly including lung cancer and respiratory illnesses such as asthma, bronchitis, and pneumonia.[55] While there have been numerous studies assessing the link between radon exposure and childhood leukemia, the results are largely varied. Many ecological studies show a positive association between radon exposure and childhood leukemia; however, most case control studies have produced a weak correlation.[56] Genotoxicity has been noted in children exposed to high levels of radon, specifically a significant increase of frequency of aberrant cells was noted, as well as an "increase in the frequencies of single and double fragments, chromosome interchanges, [and] number of aberrations chromatid and chromosome type".[57] Childhood exposureThe examples and perspective in this section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. You may improve this section, discuss the issue on the talk page, or create a new section, as appropriate. (April 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) Because radon is generally associated with diseases that are not detected until many years after elevated exposure, the public may not consider the amount of radon that children are currently being exposed to. Aside from the exposure in the home, one of the major contributors to radon exposure in children are the schools in which they attend almost every day. A survey was conducted in schools across the United States to detect radon levels, and it was estimated that about one in five schools has at least one room (more than 70,000 schoolrooms) with short-term levels above 4pCi/L.[58] Many states have active radon testing and mitigation programs in place, which require testing in buildings such as public schools. However, these are not standardized nationwide, and the rules and regulations on reducing high radon levels are even less common. The School Health Policies and Practices Study (SHPPS), conducted by the CDC in 2012, found that of schools located in counties with high predicted indoor radon levels, only 42.4% had radon testing policies, and a mere 37.5% had policy for radon-resistant new construction practices.[59] Only about 20% of all schools nationwide have done testing, even though the EPA recommends that every school be tested.[58] These numbers are arguably not high enough to ensure protection of the majority of children from elevated radon exposures. For exposure standards to be effective, they should be set for those most susceptible.[citation needed] Effective dose and cancer risks estimations UNSCEAR recommends[60] a reference value of 9 nSv (Bq·h/m3)−1. For example, a person living (7000 h/year) in a concentration of 40 Bq/m3 receives an effective dose of 1 mSv/year. Studies of miners exposed to radon and its decay products provide a direct basis for assessing their lung cancer risk. The BEIR VI report, entitled Health Effects of Exposure to Radon,[40] reported an excess relative risk from exposure to radon that was equivalent to 1.8% per megabecquerel hours per cubic meter (MBq·h/m3) (95% confidence interval: 0.3, 35) for miners with cumulative exposures below 30 MBq·h/m3.[41] Estimates of risk per unit exposure are 5.38×10−4 per WLM; 9.68×10−4/WLM for ever smokers; and 1.67×10−4 per WLM for never smokers.[5] According to the UNSCEAR modeling, based on these miner's studies, the excess relative risk from long-term residential exposure to radon at 100 Bq/m3 is considered to be about 0.16 (after correction for uncertainties in exposure assessment), with about a threefold factor of uncertainty higher or lower than that value.[41] In other words, the absence of ill effects (or even positive hormesis effects) at 100 Bq/m3 are compatible with the known data.[citation needed] The ICPR 65 model[61] follows the same approach, and estimates the relative lifelong risk probability of radon-induced cancer death to 1.23 × 10−6 per Bq/(m3·year).[62] This relative risk is a global indicator; the risk estimation is independent of sex, age, or smoking habit. Thus, if a smoker's chances of dying of lung cancer are 10 times that of a nonsmoker's, the relative risks for a given radon exposure will be the same according to that model, meaning that the absolute risk of a radon-generated cancer for a smoker is (implicitly) tenfold that of a nonsmoker. The risk estimates correspond to a unit risk of approximately 3–6 × 10−5 per Bq/m3, assuming a lifetime risk of lung cancer of 3%. This means that a person living in an average European dwelling with 50 Bq/m3 has a lifetime excess lung cancer risk of 1.5–3 × 10−3. Similarly, a person living in a dwelling with a high radon concentration of 1000 Bq/m3 has a lifetime excess lung cancer risk of 3–6%, implying a doubling of background lung cancer risk.[63] The BEIR VI model proposed by the National Academy of Sciences of the USA[40] is more complex. It is a multiplicative model that estimates an excess risk per exposure unit. It takes into account age, elapsed time since exposure, and duration and length of exposure, and its parameters allow for taking smoking habits into account.[62] In the absence of other causes of death, the absolute risks of lung cancer by age 75 at usual radon concentrations of 0, 100, and 400 Bq/m3 would be about 0.4%, 0.5%, and 0.7%, respectively, for lifelong nonsmokers, and about 25 times greater (10%, 12%, and 16%) for cigarette smokers.[64] There is great uncertainty in applying risk estimates derived from studies in miners to the effects of residential radon, and direct estimates of the risks of residential radon are needed.[38] As with the miner data, the same confounding factor of other carcinogens such as dust applies.[42] Studies on domestic exposureAverage radiation doses received in Germany. Radon accounts for half of the background dose; and medical doses reach the same levels as background dose. The largest natural contributor to public radiation dose is radon, a naturally occurring, radioactive gas found in soil and rock,[65] which comprises approximately 55% of the annual background dose. Radon gas levels vary by locality and the composition of the underlying soil and rocks. Radon (at concentrations encountered in mines) was recognized as carcinogenic in the 1980s, in view of the lung cancer statistics for miners' cohorts.[66] Although radon may present significant risks, thousands of persons annually go to radon-contaminated mines for deliberate exposure to help with the symptoms of arthritis without any serious health effects.[67][68] Radon as a terrestrial source of background radiation is of particular concern because, although overall very rare, where it does occur it often does so in high concentrations. Some of these areas, including parts of Cornwall and Aberdeenshire have high enough natural radiation levels that nuclear licensed sites cannot be built there—the sites would already exceed legal limits before they opened, and the natural topsoil and rock would all have to be disposed of as low-level nuclear waste.[69][clarification needed] People in affected localities can receive up to 10 mSv per year background radiation.[69] This[clarification needed] led to a health policy problem: what is the health impact of exposure to radon concentrations (100 Bq/m3) typically found in some buildings?[clarification needed] Detection methods Basin is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Jefferson County, Montana, United States. It lies approximately 10 miles (16 km) southeast of the Continental Divide in a high narrow canyon along Interstate 15 about halfway between Butte and Helena. Basin Creek flows roughly north to south through Basin and enters the Boulder River on the settlement's south side. The population was 212 at the 2010 census,[3] down from 255 at the 2000 census. Archaeologists have discovered evidence of human habitation from 10,000 years ago at a site near Clancy, 20 miles (32 km) northeast of Basin. From about 2000 BCE through the mid-19th century, nomadic tribes hunted bison in the grassy valleys that trend east, away from the Rocky Mountains and into the plains. By the time miners found gold in the streams in and near Basin, most of these tribes of Indians had been forced onto reservations by the U.S. government. Basin rests above the Boulder Batholith, the host rock for many valuable mineral ores found in this part of Montana. After the town became a hub of gold and silver mining, Basin's population peaked at about 1,500 in the first decade of the 20th century but gradually declined as the mines were depleted. Abandoned mining equipment, closed or barricaded mine portals, and the ruins of a smelter and ore concentrator remain in Basin in the 21st century. Historic buildings from Basin's heyday form much of the core of the CDP's small business district, which includes a fire station, a post office, two restaurants, a bar, a commercial gallery, and small specialty shops. Basin has a small elementary school, its own water system, and a low-power radio station. Local volunteers and elected trustees provide limited services to the settlement, but it relies on the government of Jefferson County for law enforcement and other services. From 1993 through 2011, Basin was home to the Montana Artists Refuge. Geography and geology Basin, in Jefferson County, is part of the Helena Micropolitan Statistical Area.[4] It lies at an elevation of 5,364 feet (1,635 m) above sea level[2] along Interstate 15 about 30 miles (48 km) by road north of Butte and 38 miles (61 km) south of Helena in a narrow canyon.[5] The community is largely surrounded by the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.[6] Basin Creek flows south through the center of Basin to its confluence with a larger stream, the Boulder River, which flows east along the south side of Basin.[6] No paved roads except the interstate highway, which runs along the river canyon, connect Basin to other towns.[6] About 10 miles (16 km) upstream on Basin Creek lies the Continental Divide.[6] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 12.7 square miles (33.0 km2), all land.[3] In the late Cretaceous (roughly 81 to 74 million years ago), molten rock (magma) rose to the Earth's surface in and near what later became Jefferson County and eventually formed an intrusive body of granitic rock up to 10 miles (16 km) thick and 100 miles (161 km) in diameter. This body, known as the Boulder Batholith, extends from Helena to Butte, and is the host rock for the many valuable ores mined in the region. As the granite cooled, it cracked, and hot solutions infiltrated the cracks to form mineral veins bearing gold and other metals. Millions of years later, weathering allowed gold in the veins to wash down to the gravels in Basin Creek, Cataract Creek, and the other creeks near Basin, as well as the Boulder River.[7] The Basin area is underlain by the quartz monzonite of the Boulder Batholith. The batholith is overlain by dacite from the Paleogene and Neogene periods (roughly 66 million to 1.8 million years ago) and andesite from the late Cretaceous. The andesite and monzonite are cut by dikes of dacite and rhyolite.[8] HistoryFirst peoples Archeologists think it likely that the first people to live in Montana crossed from Asia to North America over the Bering Land Bridge that existed during the last major Ice Age about 12,000 years ago. Because the middle of the continent was covered with sheets of ice, people who migrated south did so on trails along the edges of glaciers melted by seasonal warming. One such trail, called the Great North Trail, is thought to have followed the Rocky Mountain Front into Montana, passing close to Helena, 24 miles (39 km) north of Basin, and continuing into the east-central part of the state. Evidence of these early Paleo-Indians or Clovis people has been found at three sites, one of them the McHaffie site near Clancy about 20 miles (32 km) north of Basin. The age of the Clancy artifacts is estimated to be 10,000 years. The Clovis people are thought to have disappeared in about 4,000 to 5,000 BCE when the Montana climate became more dry and would not support the animal populations the Clovis needed to survive.[9] About 2,000 years ago, a new prehistoric people known as the Late Hunters appeared in Montana, thriving on a bison (buffalo) population living in open grassy areas on the plains and in river valleys. The earliest tribes are thought to have been the Kootenai, who stayed west of the Continental Divide, and the Flathead (Salish), and Pend d'Oreilles, who ventured east of the mountains into and east of the Three Forks country, 46 miles (74 km) southeast of Basin. In the 17th century, the Crow entered Montana from the east and the Shoshone from the south. Pressed by other tribes retreating west from white European settlers, the Blackfeet moved into Montana around 1730. Acquiring horses and firearms, and numbering about 15,000, they formed alliances with other incoming tribes, the Assiniboine and the Gros Ventres, and by the mid-18th century dominated the state. When the white explorers Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri River to Three Forks, they found only Blackfeet and Blackfeet allies. Heavily dependent on bison, the nomadic life of the Blackfeet "came to an abrupt end in the early 1880s when the buffalo became almost extinct."[9] During the 1870s, a few years after the first white miners began looking for gold near Basin, the last large-scale battles between the U.S. government and the Indians took place in Montana. The Marias Massacre (also known as the Baker Massacre), occurred in 1870 about 150 miles (241 km) northeast of Basin. Others, the Battle of the Little Bighorn and the Battle of the Rosebud, were fought in 1876 about 250 miles (402 km) from Basin in the southeastern part of the state. By then, most first peoples had been moved to reservations, which were far from Basin.[9] Camp The town of Basin began as a 19th century mining camp near the confluence of Basin Creek with the Boulder River. Gold deposits at the mouth of Cataract Creek, about 0.5 miles (0.8 km) downstream of Basin were reported as early as 1862.[10] Prospectors staked claims and built cabins, and within a few years placer mining extended the full lengths of Cataract and Basin Creeks. When a settlement was established in Basin, the buildings at the mouth of Cataract Creek were gradually moved to Basin, and the Cataract camp was abandoned.[11] Searches for the lode veins on both creeks succeeded by the 1870s and eventually led to significant lode mining at the Eva May, Uncle Sam, Grey Eagle, Hattie Ferguson, and Comet mines in the Cataract Creek district and the Bullion, Hope, and Katy mines in the Basin Creek district. By 1880, the settlement at Basin became the local source of supplies for mines and miners.[11] Boom and bust Ruins of the Glass brothers' smelter in Basin (2007) Two mines, the Katy and the Hope, owned serially by several different companies between the mid-1890s and the mid-1920s, contributed to Basin's prosperity. In 1894, the Basin and Bay State Mining Company, organized by two brothers named Glass, began expanded operations at these mines. However, flooding and fires caused both mines to close by 1896; the Glass brothers lost control of the property, and the mines went idle.[12] Despite the ups and downs of the local mines and despite several disastrous fires in town, Basin prospered.[11] In 1905, the Basin Reduction Company led by F. Augustus Heinze, who owned mines in Butte, took over the properties left by the Glass brothers and improved them. By then, Basin had a population of 1,500, four rooming houses, a drug store, three hotels, a bath house, three grocery stores, a bank, a newspaper, and 12 saloons.[12] An unpublished manuscript on file with the Montana State Historical Society describes life in Basin between 1906 and 1910 in great detail. Two railroads, the Northern Pacific on the north side of the Boulder River, and the Great Northern on the south side, served the city; both had depots and warehouses in Basin and carried passengers as well as freight. The Glass brothers' smelter had been set up on the north side to process concentrated ore delivered by rail from out of town or from the mills on the south side. Infrastructure included a weight scale for ore cars and an overhead tram to carry ore across the river from the reduction mill to the smelter. Although the smelter was a "massive unit" equipped with furnaces, conveyors, and machinery ready for operation, it "never turned a wheel".[13] While the smelter sat idle, mining activity continued on the south side of the river in the Hope-Katy mine complex, at the Hope Mill, which crushed and separated ore, and at the Basin Reduction Works. Flumes carried water from upstream on Cataract Creek and Basin Creek to a storage reservoir in town and supplied water to the mills as well as the town's fire hydrants. A separate flume carried water to the mills from upstream on the Boulder River. At the Basin Reduction Works, Corliss steam engines, driven by the coal-fired boilers, provided power to run the mine hoists and the mill machinery, and an electric generator powered by a water wheel made electricity for factory lights and the arc lights at Basin's street intersections. Surplus tailings were discharged into the river and into a dam built for the purpose downstream of Basin.[13] In addition to homes, Basin structures between 1906 and 1910 included a dance pavilion, a grandstand, a baseball diamond, and a playground near the confluence of Basin Creek with the river. A footbridge connected the playground with a picnic area on the south side of the river. Meeting places included churches, a union hall, and a two-story building shared by the Fraternal Order of Eagles, the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, the Masons, and Eastern Star. Among the town's businesses were a hardware store, a bakery, livery stables, several "units of harlotry", a blacksmith shop, a brewery specializing in Basin Beer, a sawmill, and a dairy barn from which "milk was delivered in five-pound buckets", sometimes with covers.[13] In 1909, after Heinze abandoned his properties in Basin, the Butte and Superior Mining Company used buildings and machinery at the site of the Basin Reduction Works to treat zinc ore by a new process called froth flotation. Sued for patent infringement, the company shut down its Basin plant in 1912.[12] Max Atwater, a mining engineer who had worked for Butte and Superior, obtained a license for the process and ran a smaller zinc-extraction plant in Basin from 1914 through 1918. His wife, Mary Meigs Atwater, described Basin as "a mining camp, subject to recurring periods of boom and bust... A tiny telephone office and a drugstore died with the end of our era of boom... Just above the town were the headframe of our mine, and the old mill, and the never-quite-finished skeleton of a projected smelter."[14] Former entrance to the Hope-Katy mine complex (2007) The most extensive and successful mining of the Hope-Katy vein began in 1919, when the Jib Consolidated Mining Company began work on the property. When this company acquired the mines, they comprised 3,500 feet (1,067 m) of workings. Over the next five years, Jib expanded these to more than 15,000 feet (4,572 m), and in 1924 the company became the largest gold producer in Montana. In that year, the combined Jib mines produced about 33,000 ounces (940,000 g) of gold, 182,000 ounces (5,200,000 g) of silver, 282,000 pounds (128,000 kg) of copper, and 199,000 pounds (90,000 kg) of lead.[15] In 1925, however, the Jib properties passed from the mining company to trustees for creditors, and production declined.[15] This was the last of Basin's mining booms. Since then, small-scale mining, reworking of old mine dumps, and placer mining has continued in the region.[11] Since 1960 For about 50 years, the Merry Widow Health Mine in Basin and similar mines nearby have attracted people seeking relief from health problems such as arthritis through limited exposure to radioactive mine water and radon. The practice is controversial because of the "well-documented ill effects of high-dose radiation on the body."[16][17] In 1975, the Basin community formed water and sewer districts and, using federal grants to cover about 60 percent of the costs, built a water delivery, sewage, and waste-handling system.[18] By 1990, Interstate 15 had replaced the entire length of U.S. Route 91 in the state.[19] The centerline of the Interstate followed the track of the former Great Northern Railway through town.[18] In 1999, the Environmental Protection Agency added the Basin mining area to the Superfund National Priorities List because of mining-waste problems in and near town. The mining area comprised the watersheds of Basin and Cataract Creek and part of the Boulder River. Contaminants included arsenic, copper, cadmium, lead and other metals. Cleanup of the mining wastes at the Buckeye-Enterprise, Crystal and Bullion mines in the Basin Creek and Cataract watersheds was completed in 2002, and the removal of mine waste from Basin was completed in 2004.[20] Individual mines Almost opposite the Hope-Katy complex on the south side of the Boulder River in Basin was the Katy Extension Mine on the north side. It produced ore from part of the Hope-Katy lode that had been displaced about 800 feet (240 m) to the north by faulting.[15] Other mines within 2 miles (3 km) of Basin included the Lotta, 1 mile (1.6 km) west of town along the route of Interstate 15; the Basin Bell (Latsch), about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of town along Basin Creek; the Boulder, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) northeast of Basin on the south slope of Pole Mountain; the Mantle and South Mantle, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of town along Cataract Creek; and the Obelisk, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) east of town near the road that later became Interstate 15.[15] Climate

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