Tests show elevated levels of metals in American Fork River sediment


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AMERICAN FORK CANYON — Utah County health officials are urging people to avoid wading in the American Fork River or playing on its banks due to elevated levels of lead and arsenic in the sediment and lower amounts in the water.

The department will begin posting signs along the river after test results released Friday by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality show concentrations of lead and arsenic above "health-based screening values" for soil.

The water is safe to use on crops, but the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources says anglers should practice "catch and release" as a precaution. There is no indication that any drinking water has been impacted, although American Fork city crews are testing springs as a precaution.

A significant amount of sediment washed into the river from the $7.3 million Tibble Fork Dam rehabilitation project. The 1960s-era dam is being refurbished — and raised 15 feet — in a restoration effort by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service.

As the last of the water was being drained from the reservoir over the Aug. 20 weekend, an unexpected amount of sediment washed downstream to the American Fork River, project engineers said. The result was a thick veil of black sludge that killed dozens of fish in a 2-mile section at the river's north fork.

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"Trout Unlimited has made significant investments in the American Fork Canyon watershed with past restoration work through abandoned mine tailings remediation," said Paul Burnett, project coordinator with Trout Unlimited.

"This spill really concerns us because this is incredibly valuable fishery to our members and the surrounding communities," Burnett said. "Elevated concentrations of metals in the sediments are going complicate the challenge of recovering this valuable fishery. Our organization is committed to finding a tractable path toward recovery."

The conservation organization and state wildlife biologists spent Tuesday surveying the river for impacts from the sediment. The state agency took samples of live fish to determine whether the sediment will have any long-term impacts.

Water quality scientists took water column and sediment samples from above and below the reservoir and at the mouth of American Fork Canyon. The agency also deployed two data sondes to continuously monitor water quality conditions.

Engineers are devising ways to reroute the streams that empty into the reservoir basin to avoid another release of sediment.

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Amy Joi O'Donoghue

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