Oops #1 - Huge Mine Addit Spill Turns Colorado River Bright Orange

[hatrack]

BRECKENRIDGE — Millions of gallons of rust-colored water poured from a mine addit Monday morning in Breckenridge, coloring parts of the Blue River bright orange. Town officials said there was no immediate known health threat from the surge of orange water, and no threat to the town’s water supply, which comes from Goose Pasture Tarn well upstream of the contamination.

The source of the tainted water was pinpointed at the Iron Spring mill site along Boreas Pass Road, just past the town’s ice rink, which then caused the Blue to run orange from areas near the Maggie Pond down to the confluence of the Blue and French Gulch.

It’s not unusual for water to seep from abandoned mines, especially during spring runoff, but the unusually high flow of water coming from the site was of concern to local officials, who took water samples and looked downstream for dead fish.

A prodigious snowfall this winter may have caused the sudden flow. Snow and ice may have dammed the mine addit, and if that gave way Monday morning, it would have allowed the massive surge of water to flow downstream all at once. Snow banks along the stream were colored orange to a height of about two feet, indicating a sudden surge.

EDIT

http://www.summitdaily.com/article/20060417/NEWS/60417004

[Massacure]

1. The water may not be dangerous, but it probably tastes like crap.