BUTTE, Mont. – For years, engineers have assumed that
the water inside the Berkeley Pit, an abandoned copper mine on the
edge of this hillside town, could not support life; the water has
the pH of battery acid. Then a few years ago, a curious analytic
chemist, William Chatham, noticed a small clump floating on the
water’s surface. It turned out to be a protist, a one-celled
microorganism.
Since then, biologists and natural
products chemists have isolated 42 different kinds of organisms
living in the stew, including algae, bacteria, protozoans and
fungi. Scientists are currently studying the microbes to see if
they can’t be used to help mankind in some way – maybe to clean up
the pit itself.
“Some organisms may be good
candidates for absorbing metals or raising the pH level,” says
Grant Mitman, a Montana Tech biologist who has identified many of
the creatures.
Scientists don’t have forever to
find a solution for cleaning the pit water. In about 22 years,
engineers predict the water level will rise high enough to overflow
into the groundwater and begin migrating down the Clark Fork River.
Andrea Stierle, a natural products research scientist, is searching
the pit for novel sources of anticancer, antifungal and
antibacterial agents.
“We’re looking at the
bright side of the Berkeley Pit,” she says.
*Mark Matthews
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Life in the dead zone.
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