THE DIRT: Canyon Creek's path to cleanup
Work near the Star Mine, along Canyon Creek.
Courtesy photo
Significant progress has been made in Canyon Creek over the past several years, with multiple major remediation projects recently completed or underway. These efforts are aimed at removing contaminated material, remediating and reconstructing stream channels to provide a clean habitat. Work in Canyon Creek has been prioritized to reduce risk for residents living in close proximity to mine-impacted materials with high concentration of metals such as lead.
Cleanup began at the Star Project in 2023 and is well into its three-year construction plan. In 2025 alone, crews excavated roughly 48,000 cubic yards (CY) of waste material, which is about 4,800 dump truck loads moving 10 CY per load. To reclaim the area, approximately 47,000 CY of clean fill and vegetative cover soils will be placed back into the site. In addition, about 800 linear feet (LF) of stream will be reconstructed this year. Over the project’s duration, waste excavation will total around 150,000 CY, with nearly 2,800 LF of stream reconstruction completed.
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