A
ski resort in Arizona fought for years for the right to make snow out
of wastewater, and began doing so on Christmas Eve. Since then,
complaints have come in about the yellow snow at the Arizona Snowbowl.
The slope's manager blames rusty pipes; others blame the fact that the
water used to make the snow is from Flagstaff's sewage treatment plant.
Mike
Fulton, water quality division director of the state Department of
Environmental Quality, said the agency was “looking hard” into several
complaints it had received claiming that the presence of the
manufactured snow on the slopes violated state laws on the use of
reclaimed water, which prohibit ingesting it. Critics argue, among other
things, that wastewater snow is being tracked into eating areas and
that children are playing in it and touching their faces with it.
The
water used for making snow at the ski area is not drinking water.
Studies have found that it contains hormones, pharmaceuticals,
antibiotics and other chemicals. There is much debate about whether
these chemicals are harmful in small amounts.
Regardless, the
discolored snow has meant Snowbowl has to contend with a heightened ick
factor. Kaelan Monroe, 11, said he went skiing on New Year’s Day and
that the conditions were “kind of disgusting.”
State officials have sent an expert out, but the snow has not yet been tested.
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