There are about 2,250 toxic mine sites in Colorado, according to Mark Rudolph, project manager at the Summitville Mine Superfund cleanup site. These toxic waste-emitting mines have degraded landscapes throughout the state, but the EPA’s Superfund program has proved effective in remediating these sites and giving them new futures. At Summitville, mine operators poured liquid…
DENVER- At the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge, site managers routinely spray pesticides with unknown effects on the site where a $2.1 billion chemical cleanup took place. “We spent billions of dollars to cleanup a chemical and now we are spraying another,” said David Lucas, manager of the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge. The refuge…
COMMERCE CITY–Surrouded by a city undergoing a population boom, the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge is a place for both wildlife and people. It may also be the birthplace for the next generation of conservationists. The refuge plays a key role in the conservation of wildlife including migratory birds and endangered black-footed ferrets. It’s…
DENVER –This wildlife refuge along Colorado’s Front Range just north of Denver is an emerging oasis for black footed ferrets and bison where rangers also promote conservation to children. The 15,000-acre refuge once was home to a chemical weapons factory in WWII. Later shell leased the land and produced pesticides including DDT. Then in the Cold War, the army produced nerve agent called sarin, a deadly gas. The place…
SUMMITVILLE- The historic mine here, sits 12,000 feet elevation with open scars from over a century of mining. Like thousands of abandoned mines around western Colorado, the remanences of the boom and bust gold rush are crippled mine camp houses and informative plaques about mining’s glory days. The land was first used by the Ute…
SUMMITVILLE – Toxic mine sites can never be fully restored. In 2021, Rio Grande County and the state of Colorado will take over ownership and operation of the Summitville Mine Site, one of the worst Superfund cleanups in Colorado history. Ongoing containment operations at the site will cost Colorado $2 million annually – indefinitely. “You…
SAN LUIS VALLEY- The Medano-Zapata Ranch is bustling. Bison huddle as they wait to be led into a shoot that will allow ranchers to examine them closely. It’s the one time of year when ranchers round up their herd to pull heads for sale, administer vaccination and health checks. Bison have roamed the San Luis…
SUMMITVILLE – The Summitville mine superfund site sits high in the alpine tundra above the San Luis Valley. Blanketed in snow, the peak once swarmed by gold miners looks peaceful. A small stream cutting down the slope stains the surrounding snow a reddish orange, like a scar which never fully healed. Current plans for the…
SAN LUIS VALLEY – Hundreds of years ago before southern Colorado’s San Luis Valley was cut into farms and ranchland, bison roamed freely. Today, bison are back – brought in as part of an effort to ranch more sustainably in the drought plagued valley. “For us to go in to the future, we have to…
ALAMOSA — Renewable Water Resources, a Denver-based company, is considering a diversion of up to 22,000 acre-feet of water a year out of the San Luis valley for Front-Range municipal use, according to Cleave Simpson, general manager of Rio Grande Water Conservation District. The San Luis valley is one of the poorest and driest regions…
