Summitville Mine Disaster : The Making of a Superfund Site & The Preemption of Democracy

The Summitville Mine Disaster in the Colorado San Juan Mountains was the result of cyanide heap leach gold mining. It devastated downstream neighbors, killing off 17 miles of the Alamosa River. Dr. Colin Henderson led neighbors' efforts to ban cyanide mining, working through every feasible channel from state to local levels. After the mining company abandoned the mine and it became a superfund site, a neighbor remarked, "They got the gold and we got the shaft."