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BLM outlines summer remediation work near Silverton; Forest Queen, San Juan Chief may require road closures
Summary
BLM staff told San Juan County commissioners they plan several remediation projects this summer — Forest Queen adit drainage, San Juan Chief mill and mine work, Prospect Gulch revegetation — and flagged proposed road closures and traffic controls for public safety and hauling.
BLM officials briefed San Juan County commissioners on March 12 about multiple mine-remediation projects likely to move forward this summer and the road impacts the county should expect.
BLM field staff said the Forest Queen project will begin as soon as conditions allow (planned June start) and will include drilling and a borehole to drain an iron-rich (acidic) adit, followed by temporary tanks or sediment-bag systems to treat and release captured water onto an iron terrace and wetland. Lisa Merrill and the BLM team recommended closing County Road 2B in front of the Forest Queen site from June 1 through Aug. 31 to keep heavy equipment and tanks off the main travel corridor and reduce public safety risks. BLM staff said the volume of backed-up adit water is modest (engineers estimated roughly 50,000 gallons) but that the work requires heavy equipment and careful discharge management.
The San Juan Chief project on Mineral Point is planned as one of the season’s larger efforts. BLM said crews will perform erosion-control and revegetation at the mine area, create a formal parking and interpretive area near the mill footprint, and remove soils where testing found high lead concentrations. For the mill-area removals and for hauling borrow material, BLM expects to restrict motorized access around the mill and set up traffic control between Mineral Point and the mill site during hauling. The agency said it may consolidate some removed material in the mine footprint but remains concerned about historical resources and is still examining off-site consolidation options.
Prospect Gulch revegetation is ready to go if federal weed/contracting holds are lifted; that project would require periodic truck traffic and traffic control near the borough material but would not require a full road closure unless contractor routing necessitates it, officials said. Region-wide, BLM cautioned that federal contracting freezes may delay some projects (federally funded BIL/BIL-like projects were under temporary pause at the time of the meeting).
BLM also briefed commissioners on smaller maintenance and revegetation work at Roy Prey, and on the Terry Tunnel and Animas Forks efforts (the latter includes complex archaeology and high lead hot spots near mill remains). Field Manager John Kaminski said BLM will coordinate closure windows, traffic controls, and access with county road crews and with the Forest Service to reduce disruption in popular recreation areas; commissioners asked BLM to provide detailed schedules before work begins so the county can coordinate road maintenance and emergency access plans.
Ending: BLM will return with contractor schedules and confirmed start dates once federal procurement pauses are resolved and will coordinate road closures and traffic control plans with county staff before mobilization.
