The U.S. Forest Service is cleaning up piles of hazardous, lead-contaminated mine waste near Ironton Park along U.S. Highway 550, hoping to minimize contact with humans and keep the waste from leaching into nearby streams.

About 4,800 cubic yards of this contaminated waste, produced by the long-abandoned Irene Mine, has been moved into a repository and is now being capped with an impermeable liner and more rock to prevent it from further exposure. The project is estimated to cost around $200,000,...