Comer joins ESH team as environmental manager

As do most children who grew up in the Lead-Deadwood community, Timm Comer remembers playing in Whitewood Creek as a young boy. Far from a picturesque childhood memory, the stream he remembers was grey, thick as sludge and known locally as “Cyanide Creek.”

“It was pretty awful,” Comer said. “But as kids, we didn’t think much of it.”

For most of the 20th century, Whitewood Creek flowed through the South Dakota towns of Lead and Deadwood, clogged with tailings and laced with toxic chemicals. Homestake Gold Mine, which operated in Lead for 125 years before closing in 2002, used cyanide as part of their gold extraction process. With limited waste management systems, cyanide and other toxins from the mine polluted local waterways and threatened to contaminate larger bodies of water downstream.

In the 1970s, under mounting pressure from the Environmental Protection Agency, scientists in Homestake’s Metallurgical Department discovered an innovative solution: some microbial life had survived in Whitewood Creek by “eating” cyanide. In a laboratory environment, those microbes could be used to neutralize toxic waste.

Homestake implemented the biological process with a $10 million wastewater treatment plant. Soon, the system was a model for mines across the globe. Within years, Whitewood Creek had transformed into a thriving, healthy stream system.

 “You’d never believe what it used to look like,” Comer said. “It looks nothing like it used to.”

This year, Comer joined Sanford Underground Research Facility’s (SURF) Environment, Safety and Health (ESH) Department. As environmental manager, Comer will manage the same operations that restored local waterways decades ago.

Building a career in environmental management

In 1987, Comer started a summer job as an environmental laborer at Wharf Resources, a gold mine near Lead, South Dakota. Comer spent his days developing marked trails for exploration drill rigs, building fences, and seeding and fertilizing reclaimed land. Most of the work was hands-on, but he soon became interested in the technical aspects of the job.

“Monitoring the quality of the water and the air, learning to analyze that data, incorporating that into my understanding of permitting rules and regulations—I became really interested in that side of the work,” Comer said. By that time, Wharf had implemented biological treatment methods similar to those developed by Homestake scientists, and there, Comer learned the science behind the reclamation of his childhood playground.

As a laborer, technician and eventually environmental coordinator, Comer continued working at Wharf Resources while completing a mathematics degree at Black Hills State University. He went on to have environmental leadership roles at mines in South Dakota, Idaho, Colorado and Wyoming. For nearly 30 years, Comer helped companies maintain environmental compliance by responsibly managing waste, executing facility closures and fulfilling reclamation agreements.

In 2021, Comer joined SURF’s ESH team. Working alongside John Scheetz, SURF’s current environmental manager who plans to retire this June, Comer brought his expertise in environmental management to a unique facility: an underground science laboratory.

"Timm will do a great job in this role. We're happy to have him on board,” said Scheetz, who has held his position at SURF for 13 years.

Commitment to environmental responsibility at SURF

At SURF, ESH continues to operate the Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) built by Homestake, though it has been repurposed to filter water pumped from the deep levels of the facility. SURF also monitors the health of nearby streams, including Gold Run Creek and Whitewood Creek, that could be impacted by its effluent. Since WWTP operations began in 2008, the plant has processed more than 8 billion gallons of water and has been recognized annually for “outstanding operation of the wastewater system and environmental compliance.” 

SURF’s commitment to taking care of the environment extends beyond water treatment processes and includes a comprehensive waste management system.

According to Julie Ewing, ESH director at SURF, the role of environmental manager is not only about protecting the local environment and community, but also creating and sustaining a safe working environment for all employees. The ESH team monitors air quality and vets all chemical substances brought onsite. The department also trains employees to understand their individual roles in supporting environmental compliance and safety at SURF.

“Ensuring the quality of environmental resources is a priority, and SURF takes great pride in maintaining exemplary state and federal environmental compliance,” said Ewing. “Timm has extensive knowledge and leadership skills to support this mission. We are excited to have him on the team!”

As a native of the area, Comer is happy to be here, too.

“My plan was always ultimately to retire here,” Comer said. “I was always coming home, but a position like this allows me to be back home a lot earlier than I had planned!”