NRCS Receives EPA Award

This week NRCS received an EPA Environmental Achievement Award from Region 8 EPA Assistant Regional Administrator Carol Rushin for the agency’s efforts in the 2006 American Fork-Pacific Mine site Good Samaritan cleanup.  Accepting the award for the NRCS were Utah NRCS State Conservationist Sylvia Gillen and area conservationist Kerry Goodrich.

The distinctive recycled glass awards were also presented at a Snowbird awards event to Trout Unlimited representative Ted Fitzgerald, who helped coordinate the entire project and owners Jim Baker, Bob Bonar, and  Dick Bass of the Snowbird Corporation who donated manpower and equipment toward the project located on their land.  The precedent-setting partnership project cleaned up 33,000 cubic yards of waste rock and tailings that affect a ten-mile stretch of the American Fork River which supports native cutthroat trout.  The unique aspect of this project was the piloted administrative process that relieves a voluntary organization (like Trout Unlimited) from any future liability.

The American Fork site is one of more than 500,000 orphaned mine sites throughout the West that can have an adverse impact on downstream water resources.  This was a one-time opportunity for NRCS to be involved in this type of EPA clean up effort.
Your contact is Ron Francis, NRCS public affairs specialist, at 801-524-4557.