Cleaning Up Mine-Scarred 

Lands in Crested Butte 

Crested Butte, Colorado

The 2002 Brownfields Law expanded the definition of brownfields to 

include mine-scarred lands, providing a new tool for cleanup and 

revitalization of mining properties. The Peanut Mine reclamation project 

near Crested Butte, Colorado offers an example of accomplishing 

reclamation at abandoned mines. This project is a collaborative effort 

between local officials, the Crested Butte Land Trust, Peanut Mine, Inc., 

and state and federal agencies to restore a 16-acre portion of an 83-acre 

property impacted by a former coal mine and hard-rock ore processing 

operation in the Slate River watershed. These operations, which 

occurred between 1904 and the 1970s, produced extensive tailings piles 

currently located near the Lower Loop Trail, one of Crested Butte’s most 

popular recreational corridors. 

Hundreds of people pass through the Peanut Mine site area daily in order 

to access the multi-season trails of the Lower Loop area. The site’s 

yellow, foul-smelling tailing ponds contain heavy metals, which have been 

draining into Peanut Lake for years. Clean water from the mine adit (a 

horizontal entrance to the mine) picks up this contamination as it passes 

through the hard rock tailings piles covering the property. The exposed 

area also creates the potential for unhealthy airborne dust. 

Because of these concerns, local citizens have made the cleanup of this 

eyesore property a priority. According to Susanna Linam, a local 

resident, “The Lower Loop here is used by the locals and by tourists who 

come to bicycle and hike, so it would be absolutely wonderful to get that 

mine cleaned.” 

The effort to clean up the Peanut Mine began in the late 1990s, when the 

Crested Butte Land Trust acquired property in the area, including the 

mine, with the goal of improving access to nearby national forest and 

wilderness areas and improving environmental quality. The Peanut Mine 

property has since been transferred to Peanut Mine, Inc., which was 

established to oversee the reclamation project. 

In 2005, Peanut Mine, Inc. began on-the-ground activities to consolidate 

most of the coal and hard rock tailings into one large disposal area and 

cover them with soils that can be revegetated. Once construction is 

completed, the water that runs out of the mine and over the site will be 

directed away from the disposal areas, to prevent further contamination. 

In addition, a layer of limestone will be placed under the disposal area, to 

neutralize any acidity in case of water seepage, and French drains were 

Water that runs through hard rock tailings 

carries contamination to a pond 

on the former Peanut Mine site. 

JUST THE FACTS: • An EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant 

enabled Peanut Mine, Inc. to begin 

cleanup on a 16-acre portion of the 

83-acre property where the Peanut 

Mine and Mill formerly operated for 

70 years. 

• Cleanup will involve consolidating all of 

the hard rock tailings into a few, larger 

mounds, and covering them with soils 

that can be re-vegetated. The water 

that runs out of the mine adit and over 

the site will also be directed away from 

the mounds, to prevent further 

contamination. 

• Cleanup will be followed by the 

development of improved trail access 

and will result in water quality and 

wildlife habitat improvements. 

continued • 
created beneath the limestone to direct water away from the disposal area. The lower 

portion of some mill tailings ponds will remain in place and be capped with a layer of 

coal and a second layer of soil for revegetation with native plant species. 

The Peanut Mine project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2005 unless CONTACTS:

there are delays from cold weather. In addition to improved access, cleanup of 

the property will prevent contamination of the Slate For more information contact

River, which is fed by Peanut Lake and U.S.EPA-REGION 8 provides water for other downstream users. (303) 312-6312 The project is expected to also benefit the Visit the EPA Brownfields Web site at: area’s ecosystem by improving fish, http://www.epa.gov/brownfields/ animal, and bird habitats. The 

Colorado Department of Public Health 

and the Environment required an 

environmental covenant that requires notices 

to be posted on all sides of the disposal area; 

forbids drilling for water on the property; and requires 

that the property be maintained to prevent erosion. 

This extensive reclamation project is primarily funded by a Cleanup in progress on the former $200,000 EPA Brownfields Cleanup grant, which provided critical Peanut Mine site. 

funding for the reclamation and revegetation of the site, as well as the 

Colorado Division of Minerals and Geology’s (DMG) Colorado Inactive 

Mine Reclamation Program. As a key partner, DMG designed the Peanut Mine reclamation plan, 

contracted the work locally, and supervised the reclamation construction. In addition, the Town of 

Crested Butte, Gunnison County, and the Colorado Department of Local Affairs contributed $300,000 to 

help acquire the site so it could be cleaned up. Other financial contributors include the Colorado Public 

Health and Environment, the Gates Foundation, Peanut Mine, Inc., and individual donors. According to 

Jim Starr, President of Peanut Mine, Inc., “[T]he money we’re getting for this project is really going to 

help us...we would not have nearly as good a 

final product without the EPA money.” 

Through EPA funding, the citizens of Crested 

Butte will ultimately build on regional assets and 

improve environmental quality. The result will be 

a recreational area that can be used by all local 

citizens and prevent further environmental 

degradation. According to Jim Schmidt, Mayor 

of Crested Butte, cleanup of the Peanut Mine 

property will “enhance recreational opportunities 

not just for passing through, but as a place to 

stay and stop.” 

In addition to the Peanut Mine cleanup in 

Crested Butte, the Brownfields Federal 

Partnership Mine-Scarred Lands Initiative is 

exploring approaches to mine-scarred lands 

cleanup and community revitalization in hopes 

that other mining communities will benefit from 

the experiences, lessons learned, and financial 

and technical resources identified through six 

Demonstration Projects. 

In addition to the Town of Crested Butte, communities 

throughout EPA Region 8 (which covers Colorado, 

Utah, Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, and South 

Dakota) are using EPA Brownfields funding to assess 

and clean up mine-scarred lands. These include: 

• Ouray County, Colorado is using hazardous

substances grant funds to assess mine-scarred

properties in 4,000 acres within the Canyon Creek

watershed. 

• The Mineral County Fairgrounds Association,

Colorado is using EPA Brownfields cleanup funding

to clean up a 46-acre property along the Willow

Creek watershed contaminated by mining wastes. 

• Summit County, Colorado is using EPA Brownfields

funding for assessment and cleanup of minescarred lands, including the Shoe Basin mine site.

In addition, Summit County’s Pennsylvania Mine site

is also one of six Brownfields Federal Partnership

Mine-Scarred Lands Initiative Demonstration 

Projects. 

Brownfields Success Story Solid Waste EPA 560-F-05-243 

Crested Butte, Colorado and Emergency October 2005 

Response (5105T) www.epa.gov/brownfields/