Go to the mobile version of this Web site.

Login | Contact Us | Site Map | Paid archives | Electronic edition | Subscription Questions | Extras

Home › News › Local News

Feds map plan for Leadville

Draining of mine tunnel expected to begin soon

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 20, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

Text size  
Debbie Turner, co-manager of the Village of East Fork community in Leadville, is among those concerned about an underground reservoir that some fear could burst, causing flooding and threatening the nearby Arkansas River.

Photo by Linda McConnell / Special to the Rocky

Debbie Turner, co-manager of the Village of East Fork community in Leadville, is among those concerned about an underground reservoir that some fear could burst, causing flooding and threatening the nearby Arkansas River.

Related Links

More Local News

More stories »

Map my news

Work should get under way in days to begin draining a swelling underground reservoir of contaminated water that some fear threatens to burst into the open, flooding a community and polluting the angling treasures of the Arkansas River.

Federal officials told an edgy group of local citizens Tuesday that they planned to begin a short-term attempt to alleviate the problem within days and tackle a longer-term solution, which should have a far greater impact, during the next several weeks.

Speaking inside a gym, officials with the EPA, the Colorado health department, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and other agencies pledged to defuse what local leaders have portrayed as a crisis involving underground mine works bulging with zinc- and cadmium-tainted water in volumes so great it threatens to blow through tons of debris and onto the landscape.

But they also cautioned against expecting an immediate, easy fix.

"This is a situation where we need to take action," said Jeff Deckler, an environmental cleanup specialist for Colorado's Department of Public Health and Environment.

"But we need to watch what the results are and modify our approach if necessary."

Children in fear

The discussion, replete with sometimes-technical phrases, the complexity of how water moves within the underground mazes of mines and faults and engineering hurdles, appeared to try the patience of some in the audience.

"I want you to feel the stress of going to sleep and the next morning not knowing if you'll wake up," Olga Valenzuela, a resident of the Village at East Fork, a community of small homes near the portal of the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, said through a translator.

Since county officials declared the situation a local emergency last week, Valenzuela said her three children have been scared. She even asked a top Environmental Protection Agency official if he would be willing to spend the night in their home.

"I do understand your concern, but I'm not sure spending the night there would help you or the situation," said Bill Murray, an EPA supervisor, who said he wouldn't be afraid to sleep there.

Brad Littlepage, a Bureau of Reclamation employee, took the unusual step of testifying as a citizen of Leadville and against his own employer, which he blasted as failing over decades to address the buildup of underground water.

"Isn't it time to take care of this? Are we going to study it to death, or are we going to get (on with) pumping?" he said, to cheers.

Plans nearly under way

In the near term, the EPA plans within days to begin pumping water from an area known as the Gaw Shaft, as far as two miles away from the mine pool. Although not believed directly connected to the backup in the mine tunnel, the idea is to pump water from the shaft to lower the water table and coax the underground mine pool downward, reducing pressure in the blocked tunnel.

Officials expressed some skepticism with the plan. But under pressure from locals who think it is an important step, the EPA and state regulators weren't in any position to argue and conceded that it could have some effect.

"We have yet to see what pumping the Gaw" will achieve, Deckler said. "But that doesn't mean we shouldn't start."

Stan Christensen, an EPA remedial project manager, estimated that work would cost about $500,000.

More difficult: The agency plans to bore a major shaft directly into the debris-clogged Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, lower a massive pump inside and draw out the backed-up water. It's a move seen as far more likely to make a significant difference.

But it likely will take several weeks to get off the ground. EPA officials still are trying to get funds for the work from the agency's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

Contractors will need to clear snow and drill a well perhaps 400 feet into the mine tunnel. That project likely will cost $1.5 million, Christensen said.

Initially, the water pulled from the tunnel will be made up mostly of fresh runoff and likely will be clean enough to discharge into Arkansas tributaries without treatment. But eventually, it's likely that the water will have to piped to a nearby Bureau of Reclamation treatment plant to have metals stripped out, part of what has delayed the bureau's enthusiasm for the project, officials said.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

What's next

* Within days, or no more than two weeks, the EPA plans "emergency response" measures that involve pumping water from the Gaw Shaft.

* Within several weeks, perhaps a couple of months, the EPA plans to drill a 400-foot shaft to intersect with the mine drainage tunnel. A submersible pump will be lowered through the shaft and will pump out water.

Comments

  • February 20, 2008

    3:20 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    kirbysfriend22 writes:

    Gene you're a turd. Yes, people should read and remain calm but there's nothing wrong with caring about our environment. You environment haters don't make sense to me.

  • February 20, 2008

    4:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Brockage writes:

    "....not knowing if you'll wake up...." -- Jeez, cool down a bit; worry about the problems we don't know about, the ones we're not doing anything about. This one is right at the top of the fix-em-up list. Relax, enjoy your life.

  • February 21, 2008

    12:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    canyonbaby writes:

    Hey Gene, where do you live? Are you in danger of this catastrophe waiting to happen? Have you offered any community help out of your personal time, or would you rather bag on "greenies"? How much knowledge do have have about hydrology, and geology for that matter? We are all guilty of being 'Human'. But as the highest trophic being, We supposedly have means and fortitude to fix this as long as we don't sit around name-calling, and blaming everyone else for this issue. Stay on the Powers That Be and make them do their job.... Get your students involved through out the 4 Corner states. Like it or not we all will be affected if the tunnel is breached and the surrounding biospheres are contaminated. Food For Thought...