The Historic Lisbon Valley Mining District (Site) is located southeast of La Sal in San Juan County, Utah. Miners discovered copper in the area in 1892 and they expanded their mining activities in the late 1920’s after the additional discovery of ore bodies containing uranium and vanadium. The area remained a significant producer and area of exploration until mining operations dramatically slowed in the 1980’s.
In 2022, EPA, BLM and the State of Utah identified two abandoned mine facilities where recreational human exposure to mine waste was evident, the downstream migration of mine waste was significant during flash floods, and no apparent remediation had occurred. These two abandoned mines were the Radon Mine and the Columbia Shaft.
EPA conducted a CERCLA Time-Critical Removal Actions at these locations in Fall 2022 and Spring 2023 to control erosion and limit human exposure to contaminated mine waste.
