Visitors to American Fork Canyon may notice a slight change that occurred this week: signs warning children not to play in the American Fork River have been removed.

That’s because recent testing has shown that heavy metals are back to safe levels.

“The numbers all came back well within the ranges we would want to see in core water sample and sediment, so we felt comfortable lifting the restrictions,” said Aislynn Toman-Hill with the Utah County Health Department.

Heavy metals such as lead had shown up in increased levels in the river’s sediment following a large release of sediment into the river in August during construction on the Tibble Fork Dam Rehabilitation project.

American Fork and Cedar Hills, whose secondary water could have been affected by the sediment release, have done independent soil testing to see if the heavy metals have affected northern Utah County cities.

Those tests were provided to the Utah County Health Department, said Kevin Okleberry, environmental scientist with the Utah Department of Environmental Quality.

The river is now open to all recreation, Toman-Hill said.

“We certainly hope we don’t find ourselves in this situation again,” Toman-Hill said. “But we’re glad at this point to not have any advisories or restrictions in place.”

A settlement agreement between the North Utah County Water Conservancy District, which is in charge of the dam’s rehabilitation project, and the Utah Division of Water Quality completed a public comment phase May 1.

That agreement outlines that the district pay a fine of about $145,000 to the DWQ. That was partially to cover monitoring costs the state division incurred after, and partially a civil fine for the NUWCD’s discharge into the water and failure to notify the DEQ.

It also requires a comprehensive monitoring plan to be implemented that would return the river to a pre-sediment release state.

The agreement is scheduled to be heard by the state Water Quality Board on May 24, Okleberry said. Public comment received on the issue will be submitted, and the board will be able to accept, reject or modify the agreement.

Paul Burnett, Utah water and habitat program director with Trout Unlimited, is among those who submitted public comment on the issue. He said he would like to see a long-term strategy to deal with some of the issues still present in American Fork Canyon.

Burnett cited concerns about how the sediment spill will affect the ecosystem, and about how abandoned mines at the headwaters of the river will continue to contribute heavy metals to the Tibble Fork Reservoir.

“Really long-term concerns are only going to be solved through a collaborative partnership,” Burnett said. “One of the positive things that could come out of a spill like this is creating that framework for a partnership that could help solve some of these challenges.”