Background

The 120-acre Smeltertown site is near Salida in Chaffee County, Colorado. Over the past 100 years, many businesses have worked there, including those that smelt lead and zinc and treat wood. These businesses dumped waste along the Arkansas River and let chemicals used for treating wood spill onto the ground. This caused the soil, surface water, and groundwater to become polluted with dangerous chemicals and heavy metals. After cleaning up the site, work is still being done to keep it safe.