SUMMITVILLE — The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) is considering two proposals for projects to benefit waters damaged by leakage of a leach pad at Summitville.
The public is invited to comment on the proposals at a meeting from 9-11 a.m. Friday, July 14, at the San Luis Valley Water Conservation District, 623 E. Fourth Street in Alamosa.
Funding is provided by a natural resources damage settlement related to the Summitville Mine Superfund Site and the meeting will feature presentations describing the two proposals.
The public will have an opportunity to ask questions and submit comments.
The 1,400-acre Summitville Mine site is a former gold mine in Rio Grande County, Colorado. Gold mining started in the late 1800s.
Summitville Consolidated Mining Corporation Inc. (SCMCI), mined the site from July 1986 through October 1991, and then abandoned the site in December 1992.
Mining processes, waste disposal practices and the discharge of large amounts of copper and other metals to Wightman Fork and the Alamosa River contaminated soil, surface water and groundwater with heavy metals.
The EPA Emergency Response Branch assumed responsibility of the site on Dec. 16, 1992 and it was placed on the National Priorities List of Superfund sites on May 31, 1994.
By 1984, the Summitville Consolidated Mining Corporation Inc. began open pit mining for gold, copper and silver. Following cleanup, operation and maintenance activities are ongoing.
Electronic copies of the proposals may be obtained by logging onto:
www.colorado.gov/pacific/cdphe/summitville-mine
An appointed Trustee Council determined it would allocate a total of $5 million in damages in two phases to ensure the success of restoration projects in addressing the council’s goals, the effectiveness in using the available funds and to maximize access to matching funds. Phase I would allocate up to $2.5 million, half of which ($1.25 million) would come from the state account and half ($1.25 million) from the federal account.
Mining operations deforested and denuded the area, removing topsoil and vegetation on most of the land area at Summitville, which led to large-scale erosion.
Due to the highly mineralized character of the site, almost all exposed earthen materials are capable of acid generation.
Human exposure to these contaminants is limited, since no one lives within two miles of the site nor uses the immediately surrounding groundwater for drinking.
In 2008, EPA and the state made significant progress toward the installation of a hydroelectric power system at the site, completing construction of the inlet structure.
In 2010, EPA and the state built the powerhouse and installed the 35-kilowatt turbine. The plant became operational in 2011. Energy produced by the plant feeds back into the grid, offsetting the costs of operating the site remedy. In 2009, the site received $17 million in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funds to construct the Summitville water treatment plant. Completed in 2011, the water treatment plant removes high metals concentrations from acid mine drainage originating at the site. Plant construction provided more than 100 construction jobs in this area, and the cleanup significantly contributed to improving the water quality and restoring fish and aquatic life to the Alamosa River and Terrace Reservoir.
This is a National Priorities List (NPL) or Superfund hazardous waste site. While CDPHE is the lead agency for remediation of the site, the U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Superfund program provides technical support and input on all remediation-related activities to ensure the objectives of the Superfund program are met.
This 1,400-acre site is about 18 miles southwest of Del Norte in Rio Grande County at an elevation of 11,500 feet, surrounded by the Rio Grande National Forest. 
The Alamosa River and its tributaries flow from the site through forest and agricultural land in Rio Grande and Conejos counties and past the San Luis Valley towns of Capulin and La Jara. 
Used for irrigation, the Terrace Reservoir is on the Alamosa River 18 miles downstream from the site.
The chemicals of concern are heavy metals (copper, cadmium, manganese, zinc, lead, nickel, aluminum, iron) on site and in the acid mine drainage.
In preparation for issuing the Solicitation for Project Proposals, the Federal and State Cooperative Trustee Council contracted with MWH Americas Inc. to compile the Alamosa River Watershed Restoration Master Plan, dated July 2005.
The master plan summarized current environmental conditions and developed restoration solutions to the identified problems in the Alamosa River basin, which will lead to a healthier watershed.
The scope of the master plan includes the entire watershed, with the exception of the Summitville Mine Superfund Site. Specific projects were identified and ranked, then combined into a watershed restoration strategy, with the intention of implementing the best combination of projects to obtain the watershed restoration vision.