(1) Anthropology and Earth Science, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN, USA, (2) Anthropology and Earth Science, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN, USA, (3) Anthropology and Earth Science, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN, USA, (4) Anthropolgy and Earth Science, Minnesota State University Moorhead, Moorhead, MN, USA,
Abstract:
The Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) Regional Science Center (RSC) is located on the grounds of the former Ponderosa Golf Course. Ponderosa originally opened in 1972 as an 18-hole course, but in the 1980s the course shrunk down to 9- holes, until it closed its doors for good in March 2015. At the request of the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities (MnSCU), Terracon Consultants Inc was hired to do a site investigation, which was completed in August 2015. As a result of the Terracon report, the site was considered contaminated, and MnSCU requested archaeologists no longer excavate from the site. Over 10 years after Ponderosa closed, this study investigates the extent of heavy metal presence on the former 9-hole golf course.
Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 58, No. 1, 2026