Current Status of CSMRI Cleanup

 

For those not familiar with the term, CSMRI is the acronym for the Colorado School of Mines Research Institute.  Within Golden, they operated a facility located west of the CSM football field near Clear Creek.  CSMRI is a non-profit corporation that did research into processing of ores and other research supporting natural resource industries. They received ore samples from all over the world and byproducts of their research were stored on the property.  The Institute located a settling pond near Clear Creek and in the early 1990’s, there was a break in a major Golden water line that flooded the pond causing an overflow of contamination into the creek and surrounding area.  Both federal and state environmental agencies became involved in the cleanup and along with CSM have been working to clean and remediate the area to the present day.  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency performed a Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA–- commonly known as Superfund) cleanup of the settling pond site.  CSMRI ceased active R&D operations in 1987.  The corporation is now insolvent and through the efforts of CSM the corporation exists primarily to support environmental cleanup activities of a research park on McIntyre north of Golden and the site near the athletic fields adjacent to Clear Creek.

 

Colorado School of Mines completed a work plan to perform a remedial investigation of the lower terrace/former settling pond.  Mines has also established an Administrative Record (AR) for the proposed remedial investigation.  The Work Plan and the AR are available at the following website:

 

URL: http://www.is.mines.edu/ehs/CSMRI/CSMRI2007.htm

 

The information may also be reviewed at the Site information repository at the CSM library circulation desk.  1410 Illinois St., Golden, CO 303-273-3022

 

The remedial investigation will analyze the nature and extent of the impacted soils and ground water, after which a report will be prepared along with a feasibility study of alternative cleanup plans for the lower terrace/former settling pond area next to Clear Creek.

 

 

 

 

 

For further information, contact:

 

Mr. Linn Havelick

Director, Environmental Health & Safety

Colorado School of Mines

 

303-273-3316