SEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency
Office of Emergency and
Remedial Response
(5201 G)
July 2000
Pilots
Superfund Redevelopment
California Gulch
(Robert Emmet Mine)
Board of Lake County Commissioners, CO
EPA's Superfund Redevelopment Initiative (SRI) is a nationally coordinated effort to facilitate the return of Superfund
sites to productive use by selecting response actions consistent with anticipated use. The SRI Pilots are intended to
help local governments enhance their involvement in the Superfund decision-making process by assisting EPA in
predicting future land uses for Superfund sites. Under the Pilot Program, EPA will provide up to $100,000 in financial
assistance and/or services to local governments for specified activities. Applicants are offered several types of program
assistance, including funding through a cooperative agreement, access to facilitation services, and/or the availability of
personnel under the Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA).
BACKGROUND
EPA selected the Board of Lake County Commissioners
in Lake County, Colorado, for a Superfund
Redevelopment Pilot. Lake County is home to the
California Gulch Superfund site. The Robert Emmet
Mine area, part of the California Gulch site, comprises
58 acres of patented mining claims near Leadville,
Colorado. It last operated in the early 1950s. Using all
forms of mining techniques, miners searched forgold,
silver, copper, zinc, manganese, and lead. They
developed an extensive system of underground mines,
including the 800-foot-deep Robert Emmet mineshaft,
to allow access to the mineral lode in the district. Years
of mining took a toll on the environment, and spread
contaminated tailings and waste rock throughout the
region.To alleviate flooding in the underground mines,
the U.S. Bureau of Mines constructed a two-mile tunnel,
the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, during the 1940s.
In September 1983, EPA added the California Gulch
site to its list of hazardous waste sites needing
cleanup.
OBJECTIVES
The City of Leadville and Lake County are making a
transition from an economy based predominantly on
heavy metal mining to one based on tourism and
recreation. Redeveloping the Robert Emmet Mine area
will help the city and county achieve this economic
transition. The Board of Lake County Commissioners
will use Pilot funds to develop a reuse plan to convert
the Robert Emmet mineshaft into a tourist mine and
museum where visitors to the Historic Leadville Mining
District may experience what it was like to be in an
underground hard-rock mine.
PILOT SNAPSHOT
California Gulch
(Robert Emmet Mine)
Denver
Applicant Name: Board of Lake County
Commissioners, CO
Site Name: California Gulch (Robert Emmet Mine)
Date of Selection: July 2000
Anticipated Award: Cooperative Agreement
($100,000)
Profile: The city will create a plan for reusing the
Robert Emmet mineshaft as a tourist mine and
museum.
Contacts:
Victor Ketellapper
U.S. EPA Region 8
(303) 312-6578
ketellapper.victor@epa.gov
Superfund Hotline:
(800) 424-9346 or
(703) 412-9810
(DC Metro Area)
reuse.info@epa.gov
Visit the EPA Superfund Redevelopment Web site
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/programs/recycle/pilot.htm

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