"they've only poisoned one river system in the west"
The unregulated private sector poisoned that river and then walked away, leaving their mess for the EPA to clean up.
Fast forward to 2015, and the state of Colorado is dotted with abandoned mines -- 22,000, according to the state’s Division of Mining, Reclamation and Safety -- filling up with water that runs into its streams. And the mines outside of Silverton? They’re some of the worst. Here’s what a 2014 Durango Herald article had to say about the area above Silverton, which includes Gold King, the mine that released its toxic holdings August 5:
“Scientists say it’s the largest untreated mine drainage in the state, and problematic concentrations of zinc, copper, cadmium, iron, lead, manganese and aluminum are choking off the Upper Animas River’s ecosystem.”
Enter The Environmental Protection Agency
For years, the EPA has wanted to name areas around Silverton as a Superfund site. This brings funding for cleanups. The town, in turn, has resisted, fearing the label would be toxic to tourism. (pun intended.)
Recently, the town and the agency came to a sort of detente. The EPA wouldn’t list the site as Superfund, also called the National Priority List, as long as efforts were made to improve water quality near the mines. The EPA agreed to pay for those efforts, which recently got underway.
Somewhat ironically, the Gold King mine was not the object of the cleanup. The agency had planned to plug a mine [.pdf] just below it, the Red and Bonita Mine, with the goal of reducing acid runoff from that mine.
Since mines are interconnected, however, and a plug in one can lead to more water flowing out the other, the agency planned to “remove the blockage and reconstruct the portal at the Gold King Mine in order to best observe possible changes in discharge caused by the installation of Red and Bonita Mine bulkhead.”
That project began July 2015. The Gold King Mine released its toxic load at 10:30 a.m. August 4, 2015.
kunc.org |
