Remediation since 2001 by Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation contractors on the Copperhill Watershed Restoration project in Polk County led to an award for a Nashville-based firm.
Barge Design Solutions received the Grand Iris Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Tennessee.
“This shows how a collaborative, concerted effort over a period of several years can result in the kind of environmental commitment and responsibility we love to see in Tennessee,” TDEC deputy commissioner Greg Young said in a statement. “This is an outstanding example of environmental stewardship.”
The award was a couple of decades in the making, but the damage addressed by it stemmed from mining and smelting operations going back to the mid-1800s, when a man named Lemmons discovered copper on the banks of Potato Creek while he was looking for gold.
It recognizes the restoration of the Copper Basin after decades of mining and acid production left the entire area a rusty red. Barge Design Solutions handled that project for Glenn Springs Holdings Inc, TDEC 0fficials said in a statement. The businesses entered into an agreement in January 2001 to address acid rock drainage in the Ocoee River and North Potato Creek.