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INTRODUCTION <br />upon "institutional controls," i.e., land-use restrictions, coupled <br />with air, soil and groundwater testing. In 1990 the excavation <br />level was finally reduced to six inches with the subsequent <br />installation of a "geotextile" mat covered with six inches of <br />"clean" soil. However, the "action level" requiring this work was <br />lowered from 5,000 parts per million (ppm) lead to 1,000 ppm, <br />greatly enlarging the area requiring "treatment." <br />In May 1991 the Pitkin County Commissioners adopted the <br />institutional controls to facilitate EPA's implementation of the <br />final remedy of May 16, 1990. However, the new land use ordinance <br />was repealed only three weeks later as the result of a citizens' <br />referendum to block it. A second attempt to enact identical land <br />use and building code ordinances in July 1991 was tabled due to <br />similar citizen opposition. In a concerted effort the citizens, <br />now formalized as the Smuggler Mountain Citizens' Caucus, together <br />with local government officials, lobbied Congress and EPA officials <br />to either reexamine the need for the remedy or delete the site from <br />the Superfund (NPL) list. <br />Citizen pressure was sufficient to force a meeting in <br />Washington, D.C., in February 1992 between Caucus representatives, <br />the City of Aspen, Pitkin County, Colorado's Congressional <br />delegation, and senior EPA officials. The principal result of this <br />effort was the commitment by EPA to form a Technical Advisory <br />Committee (TAC) consisting of experts to review risk assessment <br />information from the EPA, the mining industry, and the citizens' <br />coalition. The panel was charged with advising EPA and the <br />community as to whether hazardous substances found at the site <br />posed a significant risk. <br />The TAC met in October 1992 and essentially concluded that <br />no current risk existed, and there was little future risk unless <br />significant land-use and/or physical site condition changes [such <br />as climate] occurred. The TAC also made suggestions for minimal <br />remediation. It issued a final report in January 1993 that was <br />accepted in principle by EPA. <br />As of January 1994, however, final settlement between the <br />parties concerning OU-1 has not been reached. Its removal from the <br />NPL appears to be many months if not years away. <br />Bruce A. Collins - xi - SNUCCLeR BIBLIOGRAPHY <br />