Vail Mountain will pay $275,000 to Colorado for accidentally releasing hazardous water from its snowmaking system into Mill and Gore creeks in 2021, killing fish and damaging about 1.5 miles of water.
The majority of the settlement money — $249,000 — will be used for a restoration project in the Gore Creek basin. The remaining $26,000 will be paid to the Water Quality Improvement Fund. “While an unfortunate accident, this incident harmed aquatic resources in Gore Creek — one of Colorado’s prized trout fisheries in Eagle County,” Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser said in a statement announcingWednesday. “This settlement compensates the community for those injuries, providing funds that will go directly back to restoring natural resources on portions of Gore Creek downstream of the release.
The 2-million-gallon discharge from the snowmaking system turned the creeks a blue-gray color in September 2021 and killed at least 120 fish, as well as algae and bugs that support the river’s health,