Summitville+Mine

In the 1991 the Summitville mines, in Rio Grande County, Colorado, were ceased by the state government who were concerned with the metal levels in the water source. Approximately 85,000 gallons of the water was contaminated and leaked into the nearby creek. Environmental Protection Agency and the Superfund Emergency Response took over the site. The contaminated water was held in a poor pond system which caused the leak into the older underground system. An estimated $155 million dollar was spent on detoxification of the site. The heave metals and acid form the mine killed the fish in the receiver and the cyanide for the heap also leaked into the watershed but quickly evaporated into the atmosphere. Studies that the agriculture and livestock from regular use of Alamosa River water were effected. Metals in livestock and some agricultural soil degradation from irrigation.

Links - [|Summitville Mine Summary] [|Summitville Mine and its Downstream Effects] [|The Summitville Mine - Colorado’s Worst Environmental Disaster]