The Utah Department of Environmental Quality is investigating the Park City School District for allegedly discharging groundwater from the Treasure Mountain demolition site into a nearby creek without permission.
The state agency initiated the investigation in mid-October after an anonymous tip reported the district’s contractors had dumped contaminated groundwater into Silver Creek on the east side of the demolition site. It is the second reported environmental issue on the site so far, with the district having already received a non-compliance advisory related to asbestos abatement.
The school district published a 14-page document on asbestos management, air monitoring and groundwater earlier this month following local media reports on the state investigations. In the document, school officials said construction crews unexpectedly encountered groundwater during an excavation, which “needed to be controlled to allow work to continue safely.”
The district employs a full-time environmental consultant at the site, who sampled the groundwater and allegedly declared it “non-hazardous.” The district’s report clarified that the “non-hazardous” definition does not necessarily mean the water meets drinking water standards or isn’t contaminated. Instead, school officials said the “non-hazardous” label meant the groundwater could be disposed of through “standard construction dewatering pathways.”
However, officials on Tuesday were unable to answer questions regarding the specifics of metals in the water, to what degree the water may have been contaminated or the levels required to receive a “hazardous” label during a Q&A session on the site’s environmental issues after the monthly school board meeting.
To remove the groundwater, the district’s contractor installed a weir tank, which stores and separates sediments and other particles from groundwater and allows construction crews to control the water’s flow during discharge, on the property, according to the school district.
The district said the tank was then connected to the district’s private stormwater system under the direction of the site’s environmental consultant. Contractors allegedly pumped hundreds of gallons of water into the stormwater system for multiple hours a day in September and October, a move senior project manager JD Simmons said was allowable under environmental regulations.
But the weir tank wasn’t used for dumping groundwater at all on Oct. 10, according to school officials. Instead, the contracting company chose to discharge the water directly into Silver Creek.
“Groundwater pumps were repositioned and connected directly to hoses that discharged water from the excavation area into a surface creek without first entering the settling tank or stormwater conveyance,” the district’s 14-page report said. “This bypass did not utilize pretreatment or sediment removal prior to entering the creek. The duration of this creek bypass was limited to the period in which pumps were running in the altered configuration. Once environmental oversight became aware of the bypass, the discharge stopped immediately.”
School officials on Tuesday could not provide answers as to why the tank was disassembled or why contractors opted to dump directly into the creek. The document also does not provide information on why the change happened.
Superintendent Lyndsay Huntsman, school board President Meredith Reed and Vice President Nick Hill expressed frustration with local reporting on the issue during the Q&A session, telling reporters and concerned parents that the district is also missing much of the information the public is requesting.
Huntsman said the district filed its own public records requests to obtain documents from the Department of Environmental Quality, but the ongoing investigation means those records are classified. She additionally implied the contracting company, which has since parted ways with the district, has been withholding information while providing that same information to reporters.
The few public records available, despite the investigation, seem to contradict pieces of the district’s explanation, though. In an email obtained through a Government Records Access and Management Act request, the environmental director of the contracting company warned the district and state officials about the potential fallout of dumping the groundwater.
The email was sent on Oct. 10 at 10:19 a.m., the same day the weir tank was allegedly disassembled and water was dumped directly into Silver Creek.
“Today, our onsite technician identified a surface discharge from the site into Silver Creek,” the email said. “As stated in writing at the beginning of this project, this type of discharge is not allowable. Upon further investigation, we identified that there has been a water discharge that went unseen since almost the start of the project.”
The environmental director said pumping typically ran from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. during the week, with approximately 40 gallons of water pumped per minute.
“All groundwater must be captured, held onsite and properly characterized prior to discharge,” the email said. “Simply put, nothing leaves the site unless you brought it on there. … Since this is classified as a navigable water way of the State, and it is classified as a spill (or illegal discharge), the Coast Guard and the Utah Division of Water Quality are now also involved.”
The email additionally encouraged the district and its contractors to prepare for public backlash. Employees from at least two contracting companies were included on the email chain, as well as Simmons and Park City School District Business Administrator Randy Upton.
“PCSD — I recommend you prepare a statement for the press to release next week. Best to spin this our way versus waiting for KPCW and other locals to spin it themselves,” the environmental director said. “For all (owner, architect, contractor, subcontractor), please start preparing your statements now. We will all be answering for this.”
The school district has not been cited or fined for any environmental issues on the Treasure Mountain demolition site. The Department of Environmental Quality’s investigation is ongoing, and the results are expected to be published in early 2026. The results of the investigation will determine whether the district is fined, as well as next steps for any potential cleanup efforts, if needed.