From The Durango Herald (Jessica Pace):
Nearly 50 mines in and around San Juan County are proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency to be part of a Superfund site that would be called the Bonita Pike Mining District Site, according to documents released Friday…
The release comes before a Monday vote by San Juan County Commissioners and Silverton town trustees on a resolution directing Gov. John Hickenlooper to request National Priorities Listing to clean up mine pollution affecting the Animas River.
The community has spent months coming to terms with the EPA over the nuts and bolts of Superfund listing to address area mines that have polluted the watershed for years. The documents posted Friday list 26 mines affecting the Upper Animas, seven that impact Mineral Creek and 15 that affect Cement Creek, including the Gold King Mine, from which 3 million gallons of metal-laden sludge poured on Aug. 5, 2015, when an EPA team breached the portal.
Also posted is a letter from the EPA promising to include the community in decisions related to Superfund cleanup, which Silverton has demanded from the start.
The site boundaries for Superfund were narrowed after Silverton protested the parameters were too big. The EPA also has agreed to look at establishing a community advisory group to keep the Silverton community informed throughout the process.
Long-term objectives include prolonging the operation of the EPA’s water treatment plant, ensuring that the EPA will not go after innocent landowners, and continued monitoring of the area’s water quality.
Monday’s meeting, set for 4 p.m. at Town Hall, will be the community’s last chance to vote on the matter, as Hickenlooper has a Feb. 29 deadline to formally appeal to the EPA to be considered in March for Superfund status. A vote scheduled for January was delayed over unresolved issues with the EPA.
Here’s the release from the Town of Silverton:
Silverton – The Town of Silverton and San Juan County officials announced today that they have posted documents related to the proposed Superfund listing on the town and county websites: https://www.colorado.gov/townofsilverton and http://www.sanjuancountycolorado.us
The documents posted include:
A brief description of what the working group was able to achieve and areas that still need to be addressed during the Superfund process – if approved by Town and County elected officials; The letter from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Town and County confirming its commitments; Mine sites under consideration for the listing; A map of the mine sites under consideration for the listing; An EPA fact sheet; A document that outlines the cleanup measures that have been taken over the past decades. “This has been a long and intense process with a lot of back and forth with the EPA. We are posting this information in advance of Monday’s joint meeting of the San Juan County Commissioners and the Town of Silverton Board of Trustees so people can review it and come to the meeting with any questions they might have,” said Willy Tookey, county administrator.
“We hope members of the public will review the information we have posted on the website and come to Monday’s meeting with any questions they have. This is a tough decision for everyone in our community,” said Bill Gardner, town administrator.
“We were briefed by the negotiating team and it sounds like we’ve made good progress in the meetings with the EPA. I am reviewing the documents and all the information in preparation for Monday’s public meeting,” said Ernie Kuhlman, chair of the San Juan County Commission.
Monday’s meeting will be at 4 p.m. at the Town Hall.
