DOCSLIB.ORG

Evaluating Pre-Mining Hydrogeologic Conditions After Mining Has Occurred Using Surface Data and Modeling Tools Summit County, Colorado

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Evaluating Pre-Mining Hydrogeologic Conditions After Mining Has Occurred Using Surface Data and Modeling Tools Summit County, Colorado EVALUATING PRE-MINING HYDROGEOLOGIC CONDITIONS AFTER MINING HAS OCCURRED USING SURFACE DATA AND MODELING TOOLS SUMMIT COUNTY, COLORADO by Samantha Tokash A thesis submitted to the Faculty and Board of Trustees of the Colorado School of Mines in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Geological Engineering. Golden, Colorado Date:_____________ Signed: _____________________ Samantha Tokash Approved: ____________________ Dr. Eileen Poeter Thesis Advisor Golden, Colorado Date:_____________ Approved: ____________________ Dr. Murray Hitzman Professor and Head Department of Geology and Geological Engineering i ABSTRACT Procedures for evaluation of natural background conditions, after mining has occurred, are developed by investigating two similar basins with varying degrees of mining and very different geochemical signatures. Geologic, hydrologic, and geochemical data are integrated using ground-water flow and chemical reaction models. These techniques can be used to assess pre-mining conditions that lead to natural acid drainage. Surface water samples from river reaches impacted by historical mining activities, as well as reaches with no observed upgradient mining activities, contain elevated concentrations of dissolved sulfate (up to 400 mg/l), Al (up to 25 mg/l), Mn (up to 9.8 mg/l), and Fe (up to 36 mg/l). In many cases, the highest concentrations of these elements are found in reaches that are not associated with mining activities. Deer Creek is located adjacent to the upper Snake River and has higher pH values and lower metal concentrations than the upper Snake River, in spite of the similar number mines. Acidic waters (pH 3.5 to 5) in the upper Snake River of Summit County, Colorado result from interaction of ground water with disseminated pyrite in metamorphic rocks and alteration zones surrounding small rhylolitic to granitic intrusions. The Montezuma shear zone transects the area and may provide a conduit through which surface and ground water flows, oxidizing subsurface disseminated pyrite and creating acidic water and ferricrete. Water quality analysis of surface water samples from the upper Snake River and Deer Creek are divided into five chemical groups based on eleven characteristics, using a statistical hierarchal cluster analysis. The groups are representative of different ground water residence times and different subsurface mineralogy, and when spatially plotted, provide insight into ground water flow paths and water rock interactions through the two basins. ii A mass-balance model based on the volume of water that is necessary to create the ferricrete deposits in the headwaters of the upper Snake River drainage, which is not impacted by mining activities, indicates the flux of ground water recharge must be in the range of 9.4 x 105 m3/year based on an estimated age of 10,000 years. A strong spatial correlation exists between the location of the Montezuma shear zone, the iron-rich ferricrete deposits, and low-pH waters with high metal concentrations. The flux required to create the ferricrete deposits is consistent with two independent estimates, one based on climatologic data (9.8 x 105 m3/year) and the other estimated from stream discharge (8.8 x 105 m3/year), indicating relatively stable hydrogeologic conditions over the last 10,000 years. The average annual recharge is incorporated in a numerical flow model of the basin, using the MODFLOW code, which confirms the flux is consistent with expected hydraulic conductivities and gradients in the basin. Geochemical models, using the PHREEQC code, indicate that low-pH, high-metal content water occurs in areas of the upper Snake River basin that have not been affected by mining. Such models are useful for evaluating background chemistry of basins that have been extensively affected by acid mine drainage. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................ ii TABLE OF CONTENTS................................................................................................... iv LIST OF FIGURES ........................................................................................................... vi LIST OF TABLES............................................................................................................. xi CD-ROM Content............................................................................................................. xii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.............................................................................................xiii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .................................................................................. 1 1.1 Research Problem...................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Previous Work........................................................................................................... 8 CHAPTER 2: DESCRIPTION OF THE STUDY AREA ........................................... 12 2.1 Hydrology................................................................................................................ 16 2.2 Geology ................................................................................................................... 17 2.2.1 Deer Creek Geology.................................................................................. 19 2.2.2 Snake River Geology................................................................................. 20 2.2.3 Montezuma Shear Zone............................................................................. 24 2.2.4 Precipitates................................................................................................. 26 2.2.5 Porhyry-Metal Mineral Deposits and Hydrothermal Alteration................ 26 2.3 Acid Drainage......................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 3: FERRICRETE....................................................................................... 34 3.1 Ferricrete in the upper Snake River......................................................................... 34 3.2 Ferricrete Calculations............................................................................................ 37 3.3 Uncertainty.............................................................................................................. 39 CHAPTER 4: FIELD AND ANALYTICAL METHODS .......................................... 41 4.1 Field Methods.......................................................................................................... 41 4.2 Analytical Methods................................................................................................. 43 CHAPTER 5: WATER CHEMISTRY ........................................................................ 44 5.1 Results of Water Sampling and Analyses ............................................................... 46 iv 5.2 Statistical Analysis................................................................................................. 52 CHAPTER 6: FLOW MODELING............................................................................. 62 6.1 Steady State Numerical Model................................................................................ 62 6.2 Conceptual Model................................................................................................... 62 6.3 Calibration Data...................................................................................................... 65 6.4 Model Input............................................................................................................. 68 6.5 Model Results.......................................................................................................... 72 6.6 Conclusions ............................................................................................................. 74 6.7 Suggestions.............................................................................................................. 74 CHAPTER 7: GEOCHEMICAL MODELING ........................................................... 75 7.1 Conceptual Geochemical Model............................................................................. 78 7.2 Observational Model............................................................................................... 86 7.3 Inverse Model........................................................................................................ 100 7.3.1 Inverse Model 1a Precipitation to Deer Creek Water.............................. 102 7.3.2 Inverse Model 2a Precipitation to Beginning Snake River Water........... 108 7.3.3 Inverse Model 3a Beginning to Final Snake River Water....................... 113 7.4 Forward Static Model............................................................................................ 118 7.4.1 Forward Static Model 1a Precipitation to Deer Creek Water.................. 118 7.4.2 Forward Static Model 2a Precipitation to Beginning Snake River Water122 7.4.3 Precipitation to Final Snake River Water................................................ 125 7.5 Mixing Model........................................................................................................ 129 7.6 Geochemical Modeling Summary......................................................................... 132 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSIONS AND RECCOMENDATIONS .............................. 133 8.1 Discussion ............................................................................................................
Load more

Recommended publications
  • U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-0330
    U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 02-0330 Water and Sediment Study of the Snake River Watershed, Colorado, Oct. 9-12, 2001 By D.L. Fey, S.E. Church, D.M. Unruh, and D.J. Bove This report is preliminary and has not been reviewed for conformity with U.S. Geological Survey editorial standards or with North American Stratigraphic Code. Any trade, firm, or product names are for descriptive purposes only and do not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………………………..1 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………………2 Purpose and Scope…………………………………………………………………………………2 Previous Investigations…………………………………………………………………………….2 Geology……………………………………………………………………………………………………..2 Intrusive History……………………………………………… ..…………………………………5 Hydrothermal Alteration and Mineralization……………… …..…………………………………5 Sample Collection…………………………………………………………………………………………..5 Streambed Sediment……………………………………………………………………………….5 Core Samples………………………………………………………………………………………6 Surface Water Samples……………………………………………………………………………6 Diel Zinc Concentrations in Surface Water Samples……………………………………………..6 Discharge Measurements………………………………………………………………………….6 Sample Analysis……………………………………………………………………………………………7 Streambed Sediment Total Digestion……………………………………………………………...7 Mercury in Sediment………………………………………………………………………………7 Lead Isotope Analysis……………………………………………………………………………..7 Water Samples…………………………………………………………………………………….7 Quality Assurance and Quality Control…………………………………………………………...8 Results
    [Show full text]
  • Blue River Water Quality Management Plan 2012
    BLUE RIVER WATER QUALITY MANAGEMENT PLAN 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page 1.0 WATERSHED OVERVIEW 1.1 Geography and Hydrology B - 3 1.2 Land Uses and Population Characteristics B - 4 1.3 Watershed Water Quality Management B - 5 2.0 WATERSHED WATER QUALITY ASSESSMENT B - 6 2.1 Straight Creek B - 7 2.2 Snake River and Peru Creek B - 7 2.3 Upper Blue River and French Gulch B - 11 2.4 Tenmile Creek B - 14 2.5 Dillon Reservoir B - 18 2.6 Lower Blue River B - 20 2.7 Green Mountain Reservoir B - 24 2.8 Watershed Instream Flows B - 26 3.0 WATER QUALITY ISSUES B - 27 3.1 Point Source Issues B - 27 3.1.1 Municipal Discharges B - 27 3.1.2 Population Statistics and Projections B - 30 3.1.3 Industrial Discharges B - 31 3.1.4 Point Source Issues - Summary B - 31 3.2 Point Source Recommendations B - 32 3.3 Nonpoint Source Issues B - 33 3.3.1 Mining Impacts B - 33 3.3.2 Urban and Construction Activities B - 33 3.3.3 Hydrologic Modifications B - 35 3.3.3.1 Hydrologic Modifications Associated with Trans-basin Diversions B - 35 3.3.3.2 Hydrologic Modifications Associated with In-basin Diversions B - 36 3.3.4 Agricultural Activities B - 37 3.3.5 Recreational Activities B - 37 3.4 Nonpoint Source Recommendations B - 38 4.0 WATERSHED IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS B - 39 4.1 Existing Projects B - 39 4.1.1 Town of Frisco Stormwater Project B - 39 4.1.2 Town of Dillon Stormwater Project B - 39 4.1.3 Town of Breckenridge Blue River Restoration B - 39 4.1.4 Breckenridge Stormwater Quality Enhancement B - 40 4.1.5 Division of Minerals and Geology Peru Creek B - 40 4.1.6 Division
    [Show full text]
  • Snake River Watershed Plan 2013
    Snake River Watershed Plan Pennsylvania Mine, Peru Creek Prepared on Behalf of: Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment, Water Quality Control Division Under 319 NPS Grant # FAA WQC 08000041 Prepared by: Blue River Watershed Group In cooperation with the Snake River Watershed Task Force blueriverwatershed.org March, 2009 May, 2013 update 1 Snake River Watershed Plan Executive Summary The Snake River is the primary eastern tributary to the Blue River in Summit County Colorado. Much of the eastern edge of the Snake River watershed is along the west side of the Continental Divide. The Snake River watershed drains a heavily mineralized part of the central Rocky Mountains, an area that was heavily mined in the late 1800’s and has had some ongoing mining related activities since then. The Snake River and several of its tributaries are on the Colorado 303(d) listing as streams that do not meet water-quality stream standards due to low pH and high concentration of four trace metals: dissolved cadmium, copper, lead and zinc. Much has been done to study the problems in the watershed, beginning at least in the early 1970s. Most of this work has focused in the tributary Peru Creek, which is home to the largest, longest serving mine in the watershed, the Pennsylvania Mine. This Mine has been targeted as the largest source of anthropogenic pollution in the watershed since the early-1970s studies. The Snake River Watershed Plan has been developed in an attempt to put the overall problem in some context, to summarize both the problems that exist and the work that has been and is being done to solve the water-quality problems in the watershed, to identify and prioritize the numerous sources of water-quality degradation and to study what successful remediation of the “most significant” water quality degrading sites might mean for the watershed.
    [Show full text]
  • Code of Colorado Regulations 1 Discharge Allowed Phosphorus Discharge (Lb./Yr.) Major Municipal
    DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT Water Quality Control Commission REGULATION NO. 71 - DILLON RESERVOIR CONTROL REGULATION 5 CCR 1002-71 [Editor’s Notes follow the text of the rules at the end of this CCR Document.] _________________________________________________________________________ 71.0 DILLON RESERVOIR CONTROL REGULATION 71.1 AUTHORITY The Water Quality Control Commission is authorized by section 25-8-205, C.R.S., to promulgate control regulations to describe prohibitions, standards, concentrations, and effluent limitations on the extent of specifically identified pollutants that any person may discharge into any specified class of state waters. 71.2 DEFINITIONS See the Colorado Water Quality Control Act and other Water Quality Control Commission regulations for additional definitions. (1) "NONPOINT SOURCE" - any activity or facility other than a point source from which pollutants are or may be discharged. (2) "DISPERSAL SYSTEM" - a system for the disposal of effluent, after final treatment in an individual sewage disposal system, by a method which does not depend upon or utilize the treatment capability of the soil. (3) “RESERVE POOL” – consists of total phosphorus credits that have not been allocated to any discharger. The source of these credits may be previous phosphorus allocations for facilities no longer in operation, reductions in existing discharger phosphorus allocations listed in 71.3, nonpoint source control projects as described in 71.5, or other sources that do not result in an increase to the total phosphorus load to Dillon Reservoir. 71.3 WASTELOAD ALLOCATION FOR TOTAL PHOSPHORUS DISCHARGE The dischargers listed below shall not discharge more than the indicated amounts of total phosphorus in any consecutive twelve month period except as provided in section 5 below.
    [Show full text]
  • Trail Map Text
    Historic Trail Map of the Denver 1° × 2° Quadrangle, Central Colorado By Glenn R. Scott Prepared in cooperation with the Denver Public Library, Western History and Genealogy Department Pamphlet to accompany Geologic Investigations Series I-2639 1999 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey CONTENTS Introduction 1 Unsolved problems 4 Method of preparation of the trail map 4 Acknowledgments 4 Established and proposed toll roads and post roads in the Denver l° × 2° quadrangle 5 Established and proposed toll roads in the Denver quadrangle having certificates of incorporation from the Kansas Territorial Legislature 6 Established and proposed toll roads in the Denver quadrangle having certificates of incorporation from the Jefferson Territorial Legislature 6 Established and proposed toll roads in the Denver quadrangle having certificates of incorporation from the Colorado Legislative Assembly 7 Roads established or proposed under General Assembly Session Laws, Colorado Territorial Corporations and Charters, 1859-1876 20 Post Roads and territorial roads 23 Post Roads 24 More Post Roads 24 Passenger and mail routes 24 Far West Stageline notice to passengers 24 Hints for plains travelers 25 Sources of information on toll roads 25 Mountain passes in the Denver quadrangle 26 Sources of information about passes 28 Some stage companies that operated in the Denver quadrangle 28 Toll road builders 30 Famous western trails 30 Claim Clubs in Colorado 31 Railroads and streetcar lines operated in the Denver quadrangle and vicinity 31 Maps of the two-foot-gauge Gilpin Tramway 34 General sources of information 34 Military and civilian camps, forts, posts, and bases in Colorado 39 Camps listed in Colorado morning reports 51 Selected references about military and civilian camps, forts, posts, and bases 51 Selected references that locate named Mining Districts and named Groups of Mines 53 FIGURES 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Ground- and Surface-Water Chemistry of Handcart Gulch, Park County, Colorado, 2003–2006
    Ground- and Surface-Water Chemistry of Handcart Gulch, Park County, Colorado, 2003–2006 Open-File Report 2007–1020 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey Front cover: Photograph of Handcart Gulch showing the Continental Divide in the upper portion of the image, the rock glacier in the middle of the image, and the trunk stream in the lower right. ii Ground- and Surface-Water Chemistry of Handcart Gulch, Park County, Colorado, 2003–2006 By Philip L. Verplanck, Andrew H. Manning, Briant A. Kimball, R. Blaine McCleskey, Robert L. Runkel, Jonathan Saul Caine, Monique Adams, Pamela A. Gemery-Hill, and David L. Fey Open-File Report 2007–1020 U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Geological Survey U.S. Department of the Interior DIRK KEMPTHORNE, Secretary U.S. Geological Survey Mark D. Myers, Director U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, Virginia 2008 For product and ordering information: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov/pubprod Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS For more information on the USGS—the Federal source for science about the Earth, its natural and living resources, natural hazards, and the environment: World Wide Web: http://www.usgs.gov Telephone: 1-888-ASK-USGS Suggested citation: Verplanck, P.L., Manning, A.H., Kimball, B.A., McCleskey, R.B., Runkel, R.L., Caine, J.S., Adams, Monique, Gemery-Hill, P.A., and Fey, D.L., 2008, Ground- and surface- water chemistry of Handcart Gulch, Park County, Colorado, 2003–2006: U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 2007–1020, 31 p. Any use of trade, product, or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S.
    [Show full text]
  • Historic Avalanches in the Northern Front Range and the Central and Northern Mountains of Colorado
    United States Department of Agriculture Historic Avalanches in the Forest Service Northern Front Range and Rocky Mountain the Central and Northern Research Station Mountains of Colorado General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-38 M. Martinelli, Jr. and Charles F. Leaf September 1999 Martinelli, M., Jr.; Leaf, Charles F., compilers. 1999. Historic avalanches in the northern front range and the central and northern mountains of Colorado. General Technical Report RMRS-GTR-38. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. 270 p. Abstract Newspaper accounts of avalanche accidents from the 1860s through 1950 have been compiled, summarized, and discussed. Many of the avalanches that caused fatalities came down rather small, innocuous-looking paths. Land use planners can use historical avalanche information as a reminder of the power of snow avalanches and to assure rational development in the future. Keywords: avalanches, avalanche accidents, avalanche damage, avalanche fatalities, snowslides Authors M. Martinelli, Jr. is a retired principal meteorologist. He led the Mountain Snow and Avalanche Research Work Unit at the Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station until 1985. Charles F. Leaf is a consulting hydrologist and water resource engineer with the Platte River Hydrologic Research Center in Merino, Colorado. Publisher Rocky Mountain Research Station Fort Collins, Colorado You may order additional copies of this publication by sending August 1999 your mailing information in label form through one of the following media. Please send the publication title and number. Telephone (970) 498-1719 E-mail rschneider/[email protected] FAX (970) 498-1660 Mailing Address Publications Distribution Rocky Mountain Research Station 3825 E.
    [Show full text]
  • Blue River Watershed Source Water Protection Plan Summit County, Colorado
    Blue River Watershed Source Water Protection Plan Summit County, Colorado Prepared by The Greenlands Reserve Under a grant from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Howard Hallman Jim Shaw Brad Piehl Blue River Watershed Source Water Protection Plan Steering Committee 1 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 INTRODUCTION 5 Protection Plan Process Guidance 5 Public Participation and Steering Committee Organization 5 Steering Committee and Participants 5 Protection Plan Development Process 6 Purpose of Source Water Protection Plan Development 7 OVERVIEW OF COLORADO’S SWAP PROGRAM 7 Source Water Assessment Phase 8 Source Water Protection Phase 9 WATER SUPPLY SETTING 9 Hydrogeographic and Water Quality Setting 9 SOURCE WATER ASSESSMENT RESULTS 10 SOURCE WATER PROTECTION MEASURES 10 Emergency Notification 11 Emergency Power 11 Communication/participation 12 Coordinated Resource Management Model 13 Additional Commitments 14 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Very few public endeavors are more critical to survival of a community than protecting its public water supply. Absent adequate long-term sources of clean water, populations cannot subsist, business cannot function, and the community will not prosper. We in the Blue River Watershed are fortunate to live in a headwaters locale, with an abundance of clean water that supplies large numbers of users on both sides of the Continental Divide. We do not have large scale industrial, agricultural and commercial operations that can threaten water supplies in other regions. However, we are not exempt from risk. Catastrophic wildfire, changing forest health conditions, leaks, spills, sedimentation, mining activities, urban runoff, and negligent use of chemical products are among the potential threats to our source water.
    [Show full text]
  • Source and Effect of Acid Rock Drainage in the Snake River
    SOURCE AND EFFECT OF ACID ROCK DRAINAGE IN THE SNAKE RIVER WATERSHED, SUMMIT COUNTY, COLORADO by Laura Belanger B.A., University of Massachusetts, 1991 A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of the University of Colorado in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering 2002 ABSTRACT Belanger, Laura (M.S., Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering) Source and Effect of Acid Rock Drainage in the Snake River Watershed, Summit County, Colorado Thesis directed by Dr. Diane M. McKnight The Snake River Watershed in Summit County, Colorado has both anthropogenic (historical mining) and natural (the weathering of disseminated pyrite) sources of acid rock drainage (ARD). Stream waters in this system are typically acidic with elevated metal concentrations, streambeds are coated in hydrous metal oxides and aquatic biota is severely limited. The natural source of ARD was found to be the weathering of pyrite disseminated throughout the eastern side of the upper Snake River basin. The predominant anthropogenic source was the Pennsylvania Mine and its vicinity on Peru Creek (a major tributary of the Snake River). Surface waters and lateral inflows were both significant sources of ARD, with lateral flows providing the majority of mass loading at points along the stream reach. Tributary waters often had very different chemistry from lateral inflows as a result of varying exposure to rock, soils, organic matter and other solutes. Temporal variations in lateral inflows were apparent, with greater lateral flows resulting from a period of increased precipitation. Confluences were critical to the transport of metals and acidity as tributary waters and the majority of lateral inflows entered the stream in iii these regions.
    [Show full text]
  • Colorado River Cooperative Agreement Summary
    The Colorado River Cooperative Agreement1 May 15, 2012 Introduction The Colorado River Cooperative Agreement is the product of five years of mediated negotiations. The negotiations were triggered by several events. In 2003, Denver Water initiated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to enlarge Gross Reservoir. In 2006, Denver Water filed a diligence application in federal court regarding some of its water rights under the Blue River Decree. These filings created the potential for significant litigation and political dispute between Colorado’s East and West Slopes. In 2006, several West Slope entities met with then-Mayor Hickenlooper, who suggested that resolution of longstanding disputes over water would require the services of a mediator. John Bickerman began serving as the mediator for the negotiations in February 2007. The proposed agreement goes well beyond these triggering events, however. Its geographic scope is from the Front Range, across the Continental Divide, to the western state line. It directly involves 43 parties that are either signing the agreement or receiving benefits: Signatories to CRCA • Denver Water • Colorado River Water Conservation District • Middle Park Water Conservancy District • Board of County Commissioners of Eagle County • Board of County Commissioners of Grand County • Board of County Commissioners of Summit County • Clinton Reservoir Company • Eagle Park Reservoir Company • Eagle River Water and Sanitation District • Upper Eagle Regional Water Authority • Grand Valley Water Users Association • Orchard Mesa Irrigation District • Ute Water Conservancy District • Palisade Irrigation District • Mesa County Irrigation District • Grand Valley Irrigation Company • City of Glenwood Springs 1 This briefing is only a summary of the proposed agreement and does not represent the interpretation of the agreement by any party.
    [Show full text]
  • Peru Creek Brownfield Assessment
    Peru Creek Basin Brownfield Assessment Summit County, Colorado Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Final Report June 25, 2004 Prepared for: Summit County, Colorado Open Space and Trails Department POB 5660 Frisco, CO 80443 Prepared by: The Trust for Land Restoration POB 743; 555 Clinton Street Ridgway, CO 81432 www.restorationtrust.org Peru Creek Basin Brownfield Assessment Final Report 2 Prepared by the Trust for Land Restoration for Summit County Open Space and Trails Department 09/06/20064 Peru Creek Basin Brownfield Assessment Summit County, Colorado Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot Final Report June 25, 2004 The Pennsylvania Mine and the Giant Millsite In April 2001 Summit County was awarded a $250,000 USEPA Brownfields Assessment Demonstration Pilot grant to identify, assess, and plan response activities to address mining­ related contamination and revitalization in the Peru Creek Basin. The Peru Creek Pilot project area is an approximately 15 square mile, high altitude, sub­alpine and alpine basin in Summit County, Colorado. Peru Creek is a tributary to the Snake River. The Snake River terminates in Dillon Reservoir, a principle domestic water storage impoundment owned by the City of Denver. About 3,000 people live year­round in the Snake River Watershed, though resort use swells that number to over 20,000. The small town of Montezuma sits on the Snake River two miles upstream from its confluence with Peru Creek. Keystone Resort is three miles downstream on the Snake. Peru Creek is not a source of domestic water for either, though Keystone Resort does use Snake River water for snowmaking. 2 Peru Creek Basin Brownfield Assessment Final Report 3 Prepared by the Trust for Land Restoration for Summit County Open Space and Trails Department 09/06/20064 Federal lands administered by the US Forest Service comprise over 80% of the land in the Peru Creek Basin.
    [Show full text]
  • Snake River Master Plan
    SUMMIT COUNTY SNAKE RIVER MASTER PLAN Prepared by the Snake River Planning Commission Craig Suwinski, Chair Michael Arat Terry Craig John Crone Noah Klug Wendy Myers Jeanne Oltman Summit County Planning Department Jim Curnutte, Planning Director John Roberts, Manager, Long Range Planning Kate Berg, Long Range Planner II Brad LaRochelle, Planner II The Snake River Planning Commission extends an acknowledgement and thanks to the homeowners, residents of Summit County and Keystone Resort representatives who participated and offered their time and effort in the development of and/or update to the Snake River Master Plan. Adopted January 21, 2010 Planning Commission Resolution # 10-004 _____________________________ ___ Craig Suwinski, Chair Snake River Master Plan i January 21, 2010 TABLE OF CONTENTS Organization and Use of the Plan...........................................................................................................v I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................1 II. HISTORY OF MASTER PLANS PREPARED FOR THE SNAKE RIVER BASIN ..............2 III. INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4 Geographic Setting............................................................................................................................4 Guiding Tenets of the Snake River Master Pan................................................................................4
    [Show full text]