From The Durango Herald (Edward Graham):
While skeptical of the EPA officials’ lack of specifics on such things as reimbursements to downstream entities for monitoring efforts, the commissioners said the agency seemed receptive to their concerns.
“To me, the meeting was a commitment to engagement, which might be an adequate, realistic expectation,” said Commissioner Julie Westendorff. “I do think we were heard, and I think based on the comments that they shared, I think they were sincere in thanking us for coming and telling them what it looks like on the ground.”
The commissioners were in town to attend the National Association of Counties legislative conference, but Commissioner Gwen Lachelt said that a priority during the visit was to press the EPA about its commitment to long-term monitoring.
“The timing of our trip is not just happenstance,” Lachelt said. “We really wanted to have this meeting with the EPA to make sure that they help get all of these programs in place in time. They told us that they’ve spent $8 million so far responding to the spill, so that includes the $2 million treatment plant (for Cement Creek), and probably a lot of personnel costs and water testing.”
A major focus of their hour-long meeting was to discuss spring runoff and the possibility of heavy metal pollutants, laced with river sediment, being disturbed from the Animas riverbed. The EPA previously stated its plans to monitor before, during and after the spring runoff because of the Aug. 5 spill that sent 3 million gallons of mining heavy-metal-laden sludge into the river.
“La Plata County doesn’t have the expertise to come up with a monitoring plan or response plan, and so we need to get help from the state and from the EPA to help us do this,” Westendorff said…
Lachelt said coordination between the EPA regions was severely lacking, especially in response to the spill. She said the agency needs to establish a more direct contact to respond to spill-related issues across the regions…
While the EPA didn’t offer the commissioners much in the way of long-term, agency-led solutions, they agreed that the meeting was a productive step toward establishing a working relationship with the agency. And the commissioners are willing to branch out to push for more meaningful responses.