SNOWBIRD — It was, from the beginning, an unusual union — a ski resort, a conservation organization, a world-renowned jeweler and a government agency.

Together, they accomplished a first in the environmental community.

Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort, Trout Unlimited, Tiffany & Co. and the U.S. Forest Service, together, made American Fork Creek a much cleaner water.

To do it, they had to clean up tailings at three old mining sites on Snowbird property in American Fork Canyon.

For their work, Snowbird and TU received the Environmental Protection Agency's Environmental Good Samaritan Achievement Award, citing trailblazing efforts to achieve "significant environmental benefit."

Then the National Ski Area Association presented its highest award to Snowbird — the Golden Eagle Award — for overall environmental contributions. This was the second time in 10 years Snowbird has been recognized by the NSAA for environmental excellence. NSAA represents 326 ski areas in North America.

Finally, Snowbird and TU received Utah's Earth Day award for environmental excellence.

What was involved was the cleanup of tailings from the abandoned Pacific Mine, Blue Rock Mine and Scotchman No. 2 mine located on land owned by Snowbird in the American Fork drainage. The abandoned mines are about three miles from the resort's Hidden Peak.

It was determined that air and water coming in contact with the tailings created an acid drainage, which resulted in high levels of heavy metals — lead, arsenic, zinc, iron, copper and cadmium — entering the stream in American Fork Canyon.

The level of lead coming from the mines was 10 times higher than the federal Clean Water Act standard allowed.

Ted Fitzgerald, representing TU, said he was involved in the cleanup of seven mines on public land while employed with the USFS. Following his retirement, he was contacted by TU and asked to continue the work on private land.

After a year and a half of negotiating with the EPA, along with funding raised by TU, work on the cleanup started in 2005 and was completed in 2006.

"It took that long to get a memorandum of understanding from the EPA to use roads and information I gathered when I was with the Forest Service," said Fitzgerald.

At the onset of the project, he contacted Tim Baker, hill maintenance director for Snowbird, about the cleanup. Baker, he said, "Jumped at the opportunity and, among other things, Snowbird offered equipment, a work force and fuel costs."