Trump's Epa Emboldens Colorado Mining Industry While Superfund Cleanups Lag

MINTURN - In the 1980s, as Vail was gaining international notoriety as a global ski destination and Beaver Creek was struggling through its formative years, there was a dirty little secret in the river flowing between the two resorts - a fish-killing mix of arsenic, zinc, cadmium, lead and copper causing the Eagle River to run a rusty orange on its way to the Colorado River. The Eagle River was largely devoid of aquatic life after a century of gold, silver and zinc mining between the towns of Minturn and Red Cliff near Vail.