Student Projects

Glenn Springs Holdings, in cooperation with state and local agencies, offers local students up-close and personal insight into environmental devastation and recovery.

Although damage to the Copper Basin began in the 1800s, the aftermath of the area's devastating mining activities can still be seen - at least in pictures. The abandoned mining site's denuded landscape is now turning green, and the once toxic waters now run clear. But the lessons have not been forgotten.

Last year, about 40 students from Copper Basin High School worked with the Glenn Springs Holdings partnership building silt fences, visiting several water treatment plants and hiking through recovering watershed areas.

Students worked in eroded areas planting trees, building sediment barriers and calculating the volume of silt that would be stopped. They later returned to monitor the barriers' effectiveness. Frank Russell and Franklin Miller, both of Glenn Springs Holdings, explained how artificial wetlands use biological processes to treat acidic runoff.

One day, in the not-too-distant future, area streams will be returned to their pre-copper mining day clarity, and North Potato Creek will be habitable for fish and other aquatic life.

Copper Basin High School Students attend Technology Conference given by Oxy in Lexington

Copper Basin High School Teachers visit Taft High near Occidental's Elk Hills, California facility