Griffin Tunnel
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Griffin
Tunnel, St. Kevin Gulch Watershed, Lake County, Colorado
Mine wastes from the Griffin Tunnel, and the
nearby Rosse Tunnel and Wilkes-Barre Tunnel, are polluting the waters of
St. Kevin Gulch near Leadville, Colorado. Acidity (pH 2.6-3) and
metals are entering the stream over a 100 m stretch of tailings below the
lower Griffin Tunnel. A treatment plan was developed by community
groups, Lake County, and the U.S. Geological Survey, but liability issues
forced the treatment plan to be cancelled.
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Team
Marcella Appel, Civil Engineering, M.S. candidate
Daniel Cordalis, Geography, M.A. candidate
Kyle Landwehr, Geography, Ph.D. candidate
Vanessa Williams, Environmental Design, B.A. candidate
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Reports
Site Characterization I
Site Characterization II
Design Alternatives
Presentations
Site Characterization
Design Alternatives
Final Design
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Resources
- Kimball B.A., 1996. Past
and present research on metal transport in St. Kevin Gulch, Colorado.
In U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology
Program--Proceedings of the technical meeting, Colorado Springs,
Colorado, September 20-24, 1993 (eds. Morganwalp D.W., and Aronson
D.A.), Water-Resources Investigations Report 94-4015, v. 2, 753-758.
- Kimball B.A., Broshears R.E., Bencala K.E.,
and McKnight D.M., 1994. Coupling
of hydrologic transport and chemical reactions in a stream affected by
acid mine drainage. Environmental Science & Technology 28,
2065-2073.
- Niyogi D.K., McKnight D.M., Lewis
W.M., Jr., 1999. Influences of
water and substrate quality for periphyton in a montane stream
affected by acid mine drainage. Limnology and
Oceanography 44, 804-809.
- Niyogi D.K., McKnight D.M., Lewis W.M., Jr., and Kimball B.A., 1999.
Experimental
diversion of acid mine drainage and the effects of a headwater stream.
In U.S. Geological Survey Toxic Substances Hydrology Program --
Proceedings of the Technical Meeting, Charleston, South Carolina,
March 8-12, 1999 (eds. Morganwalp D.W. and Buxton H.T.),
Water-Resources Investigation Report 99-4018A, 123-130.
- Singewald, Q.D., 1955. Sugar Loaf
and St. Kevin Mining Districts, Lake County, Colorado. U.S. Geological
Survey Bulletin 1027-E, 251-299.
- Tweto O., 1956. Geologic map of the Tennessee Pass area, Eagle and
Lake counties, Colorado. U.S. Geological Survey Mineral
Investigations Field Studies Map MF-34.
- Upper Arkansas Watershed Council, 2001. Upper
Arkansas Regional 208 Water Quality Plan.
Web Sites Mentioning the Griffin Tunnel
and St. Kevin Gulch
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Directions
The Griffin Tunnel and St. Kevin Gulch are
located about 10 miles west of Leadville, CO. To get to Leadville
from the Boulder area, take I-70 west to the exit for Copper Mountain Ski
Area and Highway 91. Take Highway 91 south to Leadville, passing the
Climax Molybdenum Mine at the top of Fremont Pass. As you approach
Leadville, follow the directions on the two maps attached here as a single
PowerPoint file.
A two-wheel drive automobile (perhaps one that you are not too fond
of!) will get you all the way to St. Kevin Gulch in good
weather.
Map: Leadville to St. Kevin Gulch
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