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Crews are working all this week on an unusual project in the remote backcountry of Snowbird Ski Resort. They're trying to stop the flow of poisons into a creek that feeds American Fork Canyon.
It's a very remote area, even though it's in the watershed of the metropolitan Wasatch Front. It's another example of the toxic legacy left by the mining industry, one of an estimated 500,000 abandoned mines.
Mary Ellen Gulch is a quiet, beautiful place marred by mountains of toxic mine tailings. It's on the backside of the ski area. The Snowbird Tram is just over the ridge.
What looks like muddy water entering clear water is actually a creek being contaminated by poison. Ted Fitzgerald, with Trout Unlimited, said, "It kills all of the insects that live in the water, which is what the fish feed on."
For about 50 years, a mine there produced silver, gold, and lead. The entrance collapsed years ago, but water still flows out. Snowbird crews are damming it up and diverting the flow into a pipe. Jim Baker, with Snowbird, said, "We will divert 100 percent of the water into the pipe, which will then go into the stream."
Surprisingly, the water as it comes out of the mine meets clean water standards. The problem comes in later. For decades, the mine water has been flowing out of the mine, across the top of toxic mine tailings and percolating through them on its way to the creek. "It picks up heavy metals. That includes lead, zinc, arsenic, cadmium and a whole variety of heavy metals," Fitzgerald said.
In addition to killing insects, studies found the toxic metals in tissues of fish. At one point, the state issued warnings for people eating fish caught above Tibble Fork Reservoir.
The Snowbird project will pipe the mine water around the tailings into the creek. "Jared Ishkanian, with Snowbird, said, "The fish downstream will be just as healthy as if this mine never existed in the first place."
Snowbird did a similar project two years ago that won awards and drew national attention. There are no immediate plans to build lifts in Mary Ellen Gulch. Few skiers will ever see it, but they might feel better knowing it's a little cleaner.
E-mail: hollenhorst@ksl.com
