{"id":2455993,"date":"2020-03-18T23:12:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-19T05:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/fish-killed-in-ponds-at-aspen-center-for-environmental-stuides-from-city-office-construction-mistake\/"},"modified":"2020-03-18T23:12:00","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T05:12:00","slug":"fish-killed-in-ponds-at-aspen-center-for-environmental-stuides-from-city-office-construction-mistake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/local-news\/fish-killed-in-ponds-at-aspen-center-for-environmental-stuides-from-city-office-construction-mistake\/","title":{"rendered":"Fish killed in ponds at Aspen Center for Environmental Stuides from city office construction mistake"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"swift-gallery p402_hide\" readability=\"6.6520076481836\">\n<ul id=\"imageGallery-322935-173\" class=\"gallery list-unstyled\">\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-1024x658.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Geese swim in a pond at the ACES Hallam Lake campus on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Geese swim in a pond at the ACES Hallam Lake campus on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-1024x658.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Geese swim in a pond at the ACES Hallam Lake campus on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-1-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | Foundational construction work continues next to the Rio Grande parking garage in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>Foundational construction work continues next to the Rio Grande parking garage in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-1-1024x682.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"Foundational construction work continues next to the Rio Grande parking garage in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-2-150x150.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-2-1024x715.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times | A notice hangs on a wrought iron gate outside of ACES at Hallam Lake in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\" class=\"h-100\" readability=\"-0.5\">\n<div class=\"caption\" readability=\"10\">\n<p><strong>A notice hangs on a wrought iron gate outside of ACES at Hallam Lake in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)<\/strong><br \/>Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"row no-gutters h-100\">\n<div class=\"col my-auto\"> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.aspentimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/2020\/03\/cityscrewup-atd-031920-1-2-1024x715.jpg\" data-no-lazy=\"1\" alt=\"A notice hangs on a wrought iron gate outside of ACES at Hallam Lake in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"caption-toggle\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/fish-killed-in-ponds-at-aspen-center-for-environmental-stuides-from-city-office-construction-mistake\/#\" class=\"show-captions\">Show Captions<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/fish-killed-in-ponds-at-aspen-center-for-environmental-stuides-from-city-office-construction-mistake\/#\" class=\"hide-captions\">Hide Captions<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Dozens of fish have been killed and injured at the <a id=\"N0x262a6c0N0x2665970:N0x262a6c0N0x27f0070\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspennature.org\/\">Aspen Center for Environmental Studies ponds<\/a> after a subcontractor working on the new city office building Tuesday drilled into an underground drain system that leads to Hallam Lake, which became comprised when grout from the construction site flowed in.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s a mistake. It\u2019s a sad mistake because it\u2019s a pristine ecosystem, one of the most pristine around,\u201d said ACES Executive Director Chris Lane, adding that the city has been responsive and contrite in its response.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">ACES\u2019 onsite manager Tuesday around noon noticed white, murky, turbid water in the center\u2019s indoor tank that was home to trout.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">He then realized it was same situation in the three ponds behind the center, which is closed due to the COVID-19 spread but the walking path around the lake is open.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">ACES staff tried to transfer roughly 50 fish from the pond to clean water but not all of them made it. Others died in the pond and sank to the bottom, Lane said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">ACES is awaiting state experts to assess the damage and directions on how to clean up the site.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt does need to be remediated,\u201d Lane said. \u201cWe need a water quality expert to tell us what\u2019s in the grout.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">City officials also are investigating how much grout entered the system, said Rob Schober, the city\u2019s project manager, adding that ACES contacted the city when it learned of the situation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cOur project team took immediate actions to assess the damage and activate a clean-up action plan,\u201d he said. \u201cWe are working very closely with ACES on responding quickly. We take our environmental stewardship very seriously and mitigating this is our project team\u2019s first priority right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Much of the turbid water, which Lane described as looking like white paint, naturally has flushed out into the Roaring Fork River, but sediment at the bottom of the ponds and around them remain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cIt\u2019s pretty scary,\u201d he said, adding macro-invertebrates and plant life will likely die, as well. \u201cWe would love for this to be removed in a matter of days, not weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Rifle-based B&amp;Y Drilling Inc. was doing foundation work for the new city offices on Rio Grande Place, just a few blocks from ACES.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">Micro-piling activities inadvertently intersected an under drain system below the Rio Grande parking garage, causing a mix of cement grout to be introduced into the city\u2019s dewatering well, according to a news release.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">This incident has been reported to the state of Colorado and Colorado Parks and Wildlife.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The city has ceased all micro-piling and foundation work, and the project team is taking immediate steps to ensure this situation <a id=\"N0x262a6c0N0x26659d0:N0x262a6c0N0x27f08e0\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/what-lurks-below-aspens-surface\/\">does not happen in the future<\/a>, according to city officials.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">\u201cThe city is taking this very seriously as the health of the river, lake, wildlife and ecosystem are fundamental to Aspen\u2019s water quality standards, quality of life and environmental values,\u201d said April Long, the city\u2019s clean river program manager.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText\">The city\u2019s drinking water quality is not impacted.<\/p>\n<p class=\"STND-STND BodyText Tagline\"><a href=\"mailto:csackariason@aspentimes.com\">csackariason@aspentimes.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aspentimes.com\/news\/local\/fish-killed-in-ponds-at-aspen-center-for-environmental-stuides-from-city-office-construction-mistake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: The Aspen Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Geese swim in a pond at the ACES Hallam Lake campus on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times Foundational construction work continues next to the Rio Grande parking garage in Aspen on Wednesday, March 18, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times)Kelsey Brunner\/The Aspen Times A notice hangs on a wrought iron [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2455993","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-local-news"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-18 09:24:36","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KSPN The Valley&#039;s Quality Rock","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455993"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455993\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455993"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455993"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/kspn\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}