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The environment desk at Aspen Public Radio covers issues in the Roaring Fork Valley and throughout the state of Colorado including water use and quality, impact of recreation, population growth and oil and gas development. APR’s Environment Reporter is Elizabeth Stewart-Severy.

Diesel spill at Basalt whitewater park

Aspen Public Radio News

A semi-truck carrying rocks to the Basalt whitewater park construction area overturned Tuesday afternoon. It spilled about 5 gallons of diesel fuel and a small amount of hydraulic fluid on the ground. Contractors contained the spill, and Pitkin County Environmental Health Manager Kurt Dahl said in a statement that he was confident it was contained. Project engineers will assess the site today.  

Crews are using heavy machinery in and around the Roaring Fork River above Basalt to create a diversion channel, the first step in constructing two man-made wave features. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2017.

Aspen native Elizabeth Stewart-Severy is excited to be making a return to both the Red Brick, where she attended kindergarten, and the field of journalism. She has spent her entire life playing in the mountains and rivers around Aspen, and is thrilled to be reporting about all things environmental in this special place. She attended the University of Colorado with a Boettcher Scholarship, and graduated as the top student from the School of Journalism in 2006. Her lifelong love of hockey lead to a stint working for the Colorado Avalanche, and she still plays in local leagues and coaches the Aspen Junior Hockey U-19 girls.
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