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Major restoration project set for the summer
Historic smelting activity around Leadville helped build Colorado’s wealth but destroyed precious natural resources. PHOTO COURTESY COLORADO HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
Acid mine drainage in the Upper Arkansas River Basin. PHOTO COURTESY EPA.
By Summit Voice
SUMMIT COUNTY — Decades of industrial-scale mining left parts of the Upper Arkansas around Leadville mostly lifeless, but restoration efforts at the California Gulch Superfund Site, along with treatment of contaminated water, should help boost some aquatic life to one of Colorado’s big rivers.
This summer’s project is a key part of the federal and state effort to restore an 18-square mile area where mining led to the discharge of heavy metals and acid at the headwaters of the Arkansas, making the river in that area unable to sustain healthy fish populations. The river currently supports a good trout population because of earlier mine cleanup efforts and will be further enhanced by the upcoming habitat improvements. (more…)
Filed under: Colorado, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Environment, rivers, water | Tagged: Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Arkansas River, California Gulch, Colorado, Colorado parks and wildlife, EPA, Leadville, Superfund cleanup | Leave a Comment »
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