Seminar Prep

Ben Glenn
Seminar Prep
Future Implications
What is the best solution to both ensure economic prosperity and
environmental health for current and future generations? (Should Silverton
be designated as a Superfund site?)
There has been a lot of talk about making Silverton a superfund site.
Theyre many different solutions to the mine spills in the area but which
one is the best? The research that I have conducted supports both sides
and shows that the Superfund could be a miracle or a small town
destroyer. One example that officials have been looking to is the small
Superfund town of Leadville. Now after many years Leadville is still not
done and continues to be worked on. The plan the superfund would bring
of blocking off the mine heads with concrete is only a way to pollute even
more just over a longer period of time. I would recommend that anyone
who owns a home, property water well or spring in the Cement Creek
drainage take water samples ASPA to protect yourself from groundwater
changes that may be caused by the EPA plugging operation!(Silverton
Standard, July 30th, 2015).This solution of the plugs in the mines is very
economical but it can have a huge environmental health problem for the
community. Spills are still a big possibility they just may be postponed few
years until it finds a new exit way. Another solution that has worked in
the past although it is not realistic to keep is a limestone water treatment
plant. This water treatment plant cleans the water coming from the mines
and makes it back to a regular state. These plants are not cheap though
they cost 12 million to 17 million to build and 1 million a year to run
(Durango Herald, Apr 22nd, 2014). The treatment plant is not economically
sound, if it runs out of money like it did before, it will destroy the
environment as well. Solutions to clean up the mines in the San Juan
County are uncountable. They all have their own issues or havent been
brought up yet.
Historical Context
How has the history of mining impacted the debate on this issue?
Mining in the San Juan County has been going on since the early
1870s. There was no laws about mining in the area. The rules where
minimal and the miners could almost go anywhere they wanted and dig
until they found the metals they wanted. Riches where there for the
picking, shoveling, sorting, milling, transporting, smelting, and stamping
into lots of pocket change. (Orion Magazine) Local resources as well as
science show that the area has always been a natural place for minerals
and mineral runoff. Mining has just increased this and made it a lot faster.
The creeks up in Silverton are almost always at a high Ph level. Even if it
is just raining the creeks true more orange and metal filled, Silverton
resident. Silverton is highly dependent on the mining industry and the
spills have made that show. The solutions that the EPA bring and that
other outside sources bring are usually shot down because of the threat
towards the mining industry. But then Again, Mining has come back to
Ouray Butler said. (Durango Herald, August 3rd 2013) The threat of
mining being completely from the area forever has made most of the
Silverton officials and community steer away from a Superfund. Now that
the spill has happened it has brought more attention to the issue of
mining. Mining is the whole history of Silverton. The town is even named
after a huge resource pulled from those mountains. The debate has been
changed and postponed and cancelled because of the miners and mine
historians not wanting the region to change.
Causes of the spill
In what ways did the EPA benefit and lose from the spill? (Was the
spill an accident?)
The EPA of Environmental Protection Agency accidently caused this
spill from the Gold King Mine. They were trying to see if there was water
behind the mine head. As well as if they were connected between the
mines of the Red and Bonita. After the spill happened the EPA apologized
and is helping everyone they can for making this happen. What the EPA
did gain other than the negative comments towards them was attention.
The spill was shown to the whole country on national news and in some
places it even went worldwide. This hasnt been the biggest spill to date
but it has been the most noted and talked about. All of this media
covering the issue made the word Superfund jump all over the place. The
downsides for the EPA is that they hurt the environment of the Colorado
River for hundreds of miles as well as the people along it. Which tainted
rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah with lead, arsenic and other
contaminants. The toxic plume travelled roughly 300 miles to Lake Powell
on the Arizona-Utah border. (PBS, August 22, 2015 at 2:41 PM) The EPA
knew about the danger of this mine exploding almost 3 years ago. They
knew that the mine was only being held back by a dirt dam that was
created from a collapse of dirt on top of it. In my eyes it looks like the EPA
set this up so it could happen in the future so the attention would be
brought to the idea of a Superfund.
Ecological Impact
How far reaching will the ecological impacts be and how will they
vary based on the region of the spill (think about impacts on the aquatic
life, fish, agriculture from Silverton all the way through New Mexico where
the Animas meets the San Juan River and then into Lake Powell where the
Colorado meets the San Juan River AND think about various voices in that
region including but not limited to the Navajo nation)
The spill of the Gold King Mine in Silverton will be affecting the
Colorado River and the Animas River as well as slightly impacting Lake
Powell. Since 2000, the river has seen an almost 80 percent decline in
the fish biomass the weight of all the trout collected in a certain area,
said Jim White, an aquatic biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
(Denver Post 08/18/2015) The Animas River has been affected by mines
since the 1880s. The toxic metal sludge and water runoff from the mines
has just flown right into the river. This spill was highly concentrated with
iron oxide thus turning it very orange. The water looked incredibly
dangerous but the test fish all survived but 1. Downstream, the Navajo
Nation, which relies on the river for farming, suffered for days after the
spill. They had to close their intakes and make sure the animals where cut
off from all of the river water. Going farther the water made it into the
upper parts of Lake Powell. This made that part of the lake more metallic
water for the day or more. Back up in Durango the sediment that now
rests on all of the banks is highly concentrated mining sludge. Those
remaining metals on the river bottom still could affect aquatic life,
agriculture and other aspects of life along the water in ways that are
difficult to predict. (Denver Post 08/18/2015). The future of the river is
unknown. Spring runoff could have the metals mixed up again and we
would have to close the river or they just wash away gently. The
Ecological impacts cannot be determined until they just start to happen.

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Ben Glenn

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