Poudre Canyon closed by second asphalt spill

LARIMER COUNTY – Officials with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had hoped to have the asphalt from an Aug. 25 tanker truck crash into the Poudre River cleaned up in time for the Labor Day weekend. But a second crash on Colorado Highway 14 spilled an additional 5,000 gallons of asphalt and 200 gallons of diesel fuel into the river Thursday morning. As a result, recreation activity is prohibited in the river from mile-marker 113 through 119, and downstream anglers should release any fish they catch, according to the EPA.

Both spills were of asphalt being delivered to a Colorado Department of Transportation paving project at Cameron Pass. CDOT has ordered a temporary halt to the project while it assesses how to avoid another spill.

The safety of drinking water for Fort Collins and Greeley has not been affected, since the cities have been drawing water from other sources, including Horsetooth Reservoir and Boyd Lake, since the first incident and intakes on the river had not been reopened.

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Agricultural users working with Water Supply and Storage and North Poudre Irrigation agreed to shut off irrigation water in storage reservoirs in the upper Poudre Canyon while the initial cleanup was under way. They have been without water for about a week.