Nothing simple in attempt to end pollution from mine

Cleanup law has actually had effect of blocking efforts

By R. Scott Rappold, The Gazette

Friday, November 30, 2007

In the mountains above the Keystone ski resort, a legacy of the past continues to pollute the future.

From the 1880s through the 1940s, the Pennsylvania Mine was one of the county's most profitable. Today, all it produces is acidic, metal-laden drainage water that poisons creeks, kills fish and confounds local officials.

For nearly 15 years, the federal law meant to clean sources of water pollution such as the Pennsylvania Mine has actually prevented work to improve the water.

A 1993 court ruling said that, under the Clean Water Act, anyone who tries to remediate water at an abandoned mine becomes legally liable for discharges there forever. The ruling halted efforts by the state to clean drainage from the Pennsylvania Mine and ensured little water cleanup was done at any of Colorado's other 23,000 abandoned mines.

A decade of efforts to pass a so-called "good Samaritan" law, legal protection for groups and government agencies who want to clean up mines, has failed, due mainly to resistance from environmental groups.

"The Clean Water Act was written and designed to clean up problems like this, and it's the only thing stopping us from doing it, and it's so unfortunate," said Elizabeth Russell, of Trout Unlimited, which wants to be a good Samaritan at the Pennsylvania Mine.

While it may seem a good Samaritan law may be a no-brainer, like most issues of environmental law, it is not.

When Colorado's U.S. senators, Republican Wayne Allard and Democrat Ken Salazar, backed a bill in 2006 to remove parts of the law that discourage cleanup, it drew opposition from environmental groups.

The groups worried changes could allow mining companies to come back into the mines and renew operations and not be responsible for discharges. The opposition was enough to kill the legislation, and it looks unlikely any will advance this year.

The issue divides environmentalists. Russell recognizes the concern that other environmental groups have over weakening the law. But, she said, "We're the only ones out there trying to do the darn cleanup."

At the Pennsylvania Mine, the lack of legislation has forced cleanup advocates to get creative. Plans are in the works to create the nonprofit Snake River Water Foundation that would take over ownership of a water treatment facility outside the mine. The foundation would have little cash or assets, so it is hoped no one would bother to sue it under the Clean Water Act.

"Nobody's going to sue them because they don't have anything to be sued for. There's no money," Russell said.

Numerous groups, government agencies and area ski resorts are involved in the effort.

It's not the ideal way of doing cleanups - it's taken 15 years to reach this point, and plans for the treatment facility still haven't been drawn up. It will cost from $500,000 to $1.5 million, Russell said.

But, for now, it's the only way of cleaning up the polluted water from the mines of yesteryear.