French Gulch

On this page:

• Announcements & Key Topics
• Background
• Contamination Information
• Featured Documents

Announcements and Key Topics

The EPA is currently doing a Five-Year Review of the French Gulch Site, located in Breckenridge, CO. The EPA does these reviews to make sure that cleanup continues to protect public health and the environment.

EPA interviews community members as part of the review process. To participate in an interview about the cleanup at the site, please contact: Kate Tribbett at ([email protected])

Background

The Wellington-Oro Mine is located near the town of Breckenridge, 2.2 miles upstream of the confluence of French Creek and the Blue River, just across the road from the Country Boy Mine. The Wellington-Oro Mine was an active mine from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. In the 1980s, the EPA investigated the site and found that it is a source of zinc and cadmium that was entering the French Creek. These elements can be toxic to fish and other life in the creek, but the cadmium and zinc in the creek were not found to be dangerous for people’s health.

Many Superfund sites are listed on the National Priorities List (NPL), but due to state and community concerns with having an NPL site in Breckenridge, the French Gulch site was not scored or considered for listing. However, the EPA follows the Superfund process to remediate the French Gulch site and remove site contamination. 

In the late 1990s, the EPA and B&B Mines moved and capped old mine waste. In 2005, the EPA finalized an agreement with the Town of Breckenridge, Summit County, the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment, and B&B Mines to build a water treatment plant on the site. The goal of the water treatment plant is to remove the zinc and cadmium from the water coming from the mine before it enters French Gulch.

The water treatment plant was finished in 2008 and still operates today. 

The EPA reviews the site information to ensure the operations and treatment are working as intended. The next Five-Year Review will be done in 2025.

The 2020 Five Year Review found that improvements could be made to the water treatment plant. In 2022, the EPA did a review of how the plant could be optimized. In 2023, the EPA gave a grant to the state to study whether the site could use passive, rather than active, treatment. 

To understand the site better, a contractor is going to gather additional data. One way they are collecting data is by drilling new wells so the EPA and the state can monitor the levels of zinc and cadmium in the water with the intention of capturing more of the mine-influenced water before it discharges into the French Gulch. Drilling for these wells started on September 25th. After the wells are installed, they will be developed and tested.

You can read the 2020 Five Year Review online.

Contaminant Information

Zinc and cadmium are considered contaminants of concern (COCs) at the French Gulch site. COCs are chemicals that need to be addressed by a cleanup action because they pose a potential threat to human health or the environment. Zinc and cadmium at the site are not a risk to human health but can harm plants, animals, and aquatic life in the creek.

Featured Documents

French Gulch Second Five Year Review 2020 (pdf) (58 pp, 4.5MB)