Preserving the Past, Ensuring the Future, NPS Celebrates the Unseen Triumphs in Pollution Cleanup

The National Park Service (NPS) regularly celebrates the beginnings of new projects – breaking ground on a new hiking trail at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, taking the first steps through a mysterious passageway into Mammoth Cave National Park in Kentucky, the establishment of the Amache National Historic Site in Colorado – that lead to joyful, momentous, and often dazzling progress for the Agency and its communities. Often, however, new beginnings can be cause for concerns, as may be the case upon the discovery of legacy pollution within a park unit. On these occasions, the hoped-for result – the return of a contaminated site to its original, unimpaired state – is not intuitively progressive: back to the “old,” rather than forward to the “new.” And getting back to “old” may take years, require multiple studies and analyses, and cost millions of dollars that any Superintendent would prefer to spend on “new.” It is arduous and unglamorous work, but restoration of these sites is essential to the preservation of our National Park System, and the Park Planning, Facilities and Lands (PPFL) Directorate takes every opportunity to celebrate these achievements alongside the more dazzling ones.

Each of the following projects advances the Agency’s mission to preserve our most treasured natural and cultural assets for this and future generations. Giving attention and resources to contaminated sites is rarely exciting and never easy, but it is absolutely necessary – and the NPS celebrates all of these successes with gratitude and pride.

This past year, the NPS completed a cleanup project in Mojave National Preserve in California at Valgold Mine that received the prestigious 2023 DOI Environmental Achievement Award for Remediation and Restoration Award.

In 2023, the NPS secured critical funding from the Inflation Reduction Act to remove legacy pollution from Virgin Islands National Park, Virgin Islands Caneel Bay as well as California’s Yosemite National Park El Capitan contaminated sites.

The project at Caneel Bay will remove a landfill that contains hazardous substances impacting the local environment.

Yosemite’s El Capitan project will remove sources of legacy pollution and prevent contamination from leaching into the Merced Wild and Scenic River and restore original watershed features within the park. The project is on track for a CY2024 completion.

Yosemite National Park, El Capitan Site near the Merced Wild and Scenic River (2016)

NPS Photo

Currently, a second project in California’s Yosemite’s Cascades will remove legacy pollution sources, is in the final stages of cleanup. This work will remove contaminants related to a former wood treatment area to reduce the risk to human health and the environment.

Whether it's restoring a watershed, reducing health risks, or protecting tribal resources, these endeavors showcase the agency's resolve to safeguard both natural ecosystems and human well-being. The completion of these projects marks not just a return to the "old," but a leap towards a sustainable and unimpaired future for our national treasures.

Yosemite National Park, Cascades Site field work (2023)

NPS Photo

At Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, a newly-funded project is underway to remove contaminated mine tailings from the Glass-Heifner Mine Site. This work will prevent contaminants from entering the water source that supports a salmon stream, protect tribal resources, and provide better outdoor spaces and habitats for people and wildlife for generations to come.

Kenai Fjords National Park, Glass-Heifner Mine Site, Mine debris (2021)

NPS Photo

In the relentless pursuit of its mission to preserve the nation's natural and cultural treasures, the NPS is no stranger to the complexity of its duty. While groundbreaking moments like new trail inaugurations and historic site establishments bring a great deal of joy, there exists another facet of the journey – the restoration of sites impacted by legacy pollution. It's the less glamorous, more arduous work that ensures the longevity of the National Park System.