Environmental damage left by an old mining operation near Redding healed a little bit more recently with the opening of a new recreation trail along the Sacramento River
The trail links Redding to Shasta Lake, a popular recreation area that draws thousands every season; a three-mile section of the trail in the Keswick Dam area just downriver from Shasta Dam was recently completed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The new section connects the existing trail that runs south from near Shasta Dam to one that reaches north from the Sundial Bridge and Turtle Bay Exploration Park. The result is a 13-mile river trail.
The new portion of trail is part of the legacy of the Iron Mountain mine, about nine miles northwest of Redding.
Mining for gold, silver and other metals stopped in 1963, but the operation left a permanent environmental hazard that still leaks into the Sacramento River.
A federal Superfund created to reverse environmental damage and restore lost recreation opportunities set aside about $9 million for the Iron Mountain mine cleanup, said Dan Welsh, environmental contaminants division chief for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The bulk of the money paid for projects that helped restore salmon populations in the Sacramento River watershed, and for a plant that treats the acid mine runoff before it reaches the river.
Some of the money is used to create recreation areas.
Linking the two trails cost about $800,000 of the Superfund money, said Welsh, who also chairs a council of state and federal agency representatives who guide the cleanup efforts.
Much of the completed trail, which is for non-motorized use, is atop the route of an abandoned rail line.
The Sundial Bridge, the iconic pedestrian span designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, links both sides of Turtle Bay Exploration Park straddling the Sacramento River.
Call The Bee's M.S. Enkoji, (916) 321-1106.
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