Region 8
Serving Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 27 Tribal Nations
Superfund Program
National Information
Regional Information
Site Information
National Priorities List (NPL) History
Proposed Date
10/15/1984
Final Date
6/10/1986
Completion Date
9/17/2001
Eagle Mine
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Site Type: Completed NPL City: Minturn/Redcliff County: Eagle Street Address: W of US Hwy 24 Zip Code: 81657 EPA ID#: COD081961518 Site ID#: 0800159 Site Aliases: Gilman, New Jersey Zinc - CO, Eagle Mine Congressional District: 3rd |
Site Status & Updates
The 2008 Five Year Review Report is Complete
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") and the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment (the "CDPHE") conducted the third Five-Year Review at the Eagle Mine Superfund Site (the "Site") this year. The five year review is now complete and available for public review. Overall results of the review show that the remedy continues to be protective of human health. However, the remedy is not currently protective of the environment because the Site does not comply with the new water quality standards adopted by the Water Quality Control Commission and will not comply in the future without further actions to reduce zinc loading. To view the 2008 Five Year Review Report, please see the Site Documents section of this page, or contact one of the representatives listed in the Contacts section of this page.
Ginn Battle North has approached EPA and CDPHE with a proposed plan to develop the North Property of the Eagle Mine Superfund Site into a residential golf course community. The North Property historically received the waste (tailings) from the ore benefication (crushing, grinding, washing, extraction) operations during mining operations at the Eagle Mine.
This proposed new residential and recreational use of the Site requires that additional cleanup actions are taken to ensure that residents, workers, and visitors are protected. EPA and CDPHE created a new operable unit--OU3--that reflects the boundaries of the proposed development, including the North Property of the Eagle Mine Superfund Site, the Highlands area, and the Bolts Lake area. EPA and CDPHE are requiring that Ginn Battle North take the steps required in the Superfund Process to allow for recreational and residential use of OU3.
Important pieces of that process include the remedial investigation, the Human Health Risk Assessment, and the Feasibility Study. Please refer to these documents in the documents section of this page.
Site Description
One hundred years of mining near Vail left metals that killed fish in the Eagle River, and threatened drinking water wells in Minturn. The Site includes the now-flooded Eagle Mine, the abandoned town of Gilman and 8 million tons of mine wastes.
Miners began working the Eagle Mine in the 1880s, searching for gold and silver. The Eagle Mine later became a zinc mining operation, leaving high levels of arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc in the soil, and in surface and groundwater. Copper-silver production continued at Eagle Mine until the mine workings were allowed to flood and the mine closed in 1984.
Site Risk
| Media Affected | Contaminants | Source of Contamination |
| Groundwater, surface water, solid waste, soil, liquid waste, debris, sediment | Arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, zinc | Metals mining |
Cleanup Progress
EPA placed the mine on its National Priority List (the "NPL") in 1986. CDPHE and the Potentially Responsible Party (the "PRP") --Viacom -- implemented a cleanup plan in 1988 to:
- Plug mine portals to flood the mine workings
- Collect and treat mine and groundwater in a newly constructed treatment plant
- Remove, consolidate and cap tailings materials and
- Replant removal areas and capped soils
In 1989, EPA became more involved in the project, resulting in additional cleanup measures:
- Assessing health risks in the middle school and Minturn area
- Ordering the cleanup and reconstruction of the wetlands area
- Removing hazardous materials from the mine Site
- Pumping and treating groundwater and
- Tightening cleanup standards on the Eagle River
Since then, EPA and CDPHE have cooperated on long-term actions. In 1996 the two Agencies and Viacom signed an agreement requiring evaluation and possible reconstruction of the groundwater extraction system.
Results are encouraging: fish populations in the Eagle River have improved; testing shows that risks to human health have been diminished or do not exist.
EPA, CDPHE and the community have been working together to develop long-term water-quality standards for the Eagle River. Standards will be based on the river's ability to sustain biologically improved and healthy fish and aquatic life.
In cooperation with CDPHE, EPA completed the first five-year review of the Site in September 2000. A five-year review evaluates whether cleanup efforts are protective of public health and the environment. The review concluded that public health risks have been removed, and that significant progress has been made in restoring the Eagle River. The Eagle River trout fishery, in particular, has achieved a significant recovery.
In October 2001, EPA declared that construction of the required elements of the remedy is complete, and the Site is now in the operations and maintenance (the "O&M") phase.
In 2005 and 2006, with EPA and CDPHE oversight, Ginn Battle North conducted a remedial investigation, Human Health Risk Assessment and Feasbility Study (the "RI/FS"). These are important steps required in the Superfund process in order for Ginn Battle North to be protective of human health and the environment should they proceed with their development plans on OU3.
EPA and CDPHE conducted a third five-year review at the Eagle Mine Site in 2008. Overall results show that the remedies implemented continue to be protective of human health and the environment.
Community Involvement
EPA provides Technical Assistance Grants (the "TAG") to community groups so that community residents can hire a technical advisor for independent review of the cleanup. The Eagle River Watershed Council, Eagle Mine, Ltd., is the current TAG recipient. EPA is committed to working with members from this group and the broader community surrounding the Eagle Mine Superfund Site.
Site Documents
Note: most of the files below are Adobe PDF files
About PDF files
OU3 Human Health Risk Assessment (PDF, 237 pp, 3 MB)
OU3 Feasibility Study
Remediation Feasibility Study, 2/16/07 (PDF, 147 pp, 1.62 MB)
Note: the final document is 66 MB--too large to post on the Web Site. For the full FS, including all figures and maps, please contact Jennifer Chergo at 303-312-6601.
Feasibility Study Fact Sheet, March 2007 (PDF, 6 pp, 588K)
Operable Unit 3 map (PDF, 1 page, 385K)
Final Response to Comments for Feasibility Study (PDF, 20 pp, 82K)
OU3 Remedial Investigation
Remedial Investigation Report (VERY large PDF: 260 pp, 6.7 MB)
Remedial Investigation Report Fact Sheet (PDF, 4 pp, 454K)
Five-Year Review
September 2008 Five-Year Review (PDF, 88 pages, 1.4 MB)
Five-Year Review Update, December 2008 (PDF, 5 pp, 54 K)
Record of Decision (the "ROD") List
The table below lists all available documents for this Site. All full-text RODs are in PDF format. To download a full-text ROD, right click on the link below and select Save Link As. To view a full-text ROD or abstract, click the appropriate link below. Please note that download time may be extended given the size of the full-text document. File size is noted in kilobytes (K) or megabytes (M) next to each download link. If file size exceeds 15 M, please request a customized ROD report.
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ROD Fiscal Year |
ROD Type | ROD Date | Operable Unit(s) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | ROD | 09/03/98 | 02 | Abstract | Full-text [26K] |
| 1993 | ROD | 03/29/93 | 01 | Abstract | Full-text [87K] |
Contacts
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EPA Mike Holmes, Project Manager Jennifer Chergo |
Colorado Wendy Naugle Warren Smith |
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View Documents at: EPA Superfund Records Center Minturn Town Hall |