FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 20, 1998

Today the Pikes Peak Group of the Sierra Club filed a complaint in federal court alleging that the Forest Service has violated the Clean Water Act by authorizing operation and maintenance activities on Pikes Peak Highway in the absence of necessary water quality certification from the State of Colorado.

The Pikes Peak Highway is a toll road that ascends the 14,000 foot summit of Pikes Peak. The City of Colorado Springs operates the highway pursuant to a special use permit issued by the Forest Service. The final twelve miles of the highway are unpaved, and the city maintains this stretch by applying approximately 11,500 tons of gravel per year to its surface. A large portion of that gravel scatters from the highway surface and discharges into down-slope streams and wetlands, choking the life from those fragile alpine ecosystems. Gravel discharges have already filled in parts of Ski Creek, Severy Creek, South Catamount Reservoir, and over twenty acres of area wetlands.

"Many of the streams and wetlands on Pikes Peak have been bombed out by gravel discharges," said Sierra Club member John Stansfield. "It’s time for the Forest Service to take responsibility for water quality."

The Clean Water Act dictates that before the Forest Service may authorize an activity in Colorado that may affect water quality, it must obtain certification from the State of Colorado indicating that the activity will not create violations of water quality standards. If an activity will create water quality violations, the State may choose to condition its certification on the implementation of protective measures that will safeguard water quality.

"It is time for the Forest Service to comply with the law," said Sierra Club member Jim Lockhart. "This situation has gone on for too long."

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Pikes Peak Regional Group, Rocky Mountain Chapter of the Sierra Club
131 Williams Street, Colorado Springs, CO 80905-1413 - Phone: (719) 592-0963
Last updated February 02, 1999.