Before Parker & Assoc. Archaeological Research arrived at the project, the EPA had already completed the Phase 1A portion of the project.  This involved demolition of existing homes and the removal of mine tailings that had been used as fill under those homes.  Mechanical excavation proceeded 30-60 cm into underlying cultural soils after the mine waste had been removed. In some instances, these excavations went as deep as 8 to 10 feet into intact cultural soils.

In areas where mine waste did not exist, damage to historic resources included the use of a bulldozer to clear surface vegetation for the placement of silt fences and driving track driven and tire driven trucks and equipment over unprotected cultural soils.

On August 8th, 2006 Archaeological Research took photographs and measurements of the open excavations and graded areas that were still visible from the Phase 1A process. These measurements revealed that approximately 7,000 cubic meters of cultural soil had been destroyed.

The map below shows the Elem Reservation and extent of the cultural site (CA-LAK-76/H). Within the cultural site, the black outlined areas indicate the EPA archaeological damage that occurred before an archeologist was called in.  Numbers on the map correspond with the accompanying photos showing cut banks and excavations where cultural soils had been removed.   For scale, a meter stick with 10 cm graduations is displayed in most photos.