The San Juan and New York Smelting Company, (later on merged into the American Smelting & Refining Company, but commonly referred to as the "Durango Smelter") was a mineral smelter located below Smelter Mountain right in front of Durango, Colorado, operating from 1882 to 1930, processing Coke, Lead, Copper, Silver, and Gold from mines all over La Plata County, San Juan County, and elsewhere in the Southwestern Colorado Region generally serviced by railroad.[1] It was later reinstated during World War II by the U. S. Vanadium Corporation for production of large amounts of Uranium that would be utilized in the Manhattan Project. From 1963 on the smelter sat dormant until the U.S. Department of Energy cleaned up the site from 1985 to 1987 due to concerns regarding toxic mineral tailings/radioactive waste, as well as the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment suing ASARCO (the successor to the American Smelting and Refining Company) or damages to natural resources in 1983.[2][3] Today the site is now the City of Durango's dog park and also considered a popular local hike.[4][5]
- ^ Seyfarth, Jill; Lambert, Ruth (2010). Pioneers, Prospectors and Trout, A Historic Context For La Plata County, Colorado (PDF). Durango, Colorado.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Rodebaugh, Dale (April 21, 2012). "Paying for toxic smelter?". The Durango Herald. Archived from the original on January 26, 2021.
- ^ "Smelter Mountain..." The Daily Sentinel. August 13, 1987.
- ^ "Smelter Mountain Trail – Durango Trails". www.durangotrails.org. Retrieved 2021-03-28.
- ^ "Smelter Mountain Trail". Durango Outdoors. Retrieved 6 June 2017.