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Leadville 'disaster' declaration releases cascade of dissent

Mayor accuses Lake County commissioners and Sen. Tom Wiens of 'staging' so-called emergency over rising toxic water in clogged mine.

By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News

Published February 25, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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The Village of East Fork, a modular home community, is near the clogged mine.

Photo by Linda McConnell / Special to the Rocky

The Village of East Fork, a modular home community, is near the clogged mine.

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Lake County's dramatic declaration nearly two weeks ago of a "disaster emergency" over water rising behind a clogged mine tunnel was not a move made in haste.

Nor was it fashioned in public.

For days, Lake County commissioners worked behind the scenes with state Sen. Tom Wiens, a Castle Rock Republican, to lay the groundwork for the emergency announcement.

Wiens even set up a Web site - savethearkansasriver.org - four days ahead of the emergency declaration. It includes repeated references to Wiens' role in heading off disaster. He appears in videos, stories and headlines such as "Federal and state agencies answer to Sen. Tom Wiens."

It was part of Wiens' plan to use "every communications tool the 21st century provides" to get the story out, he said. He paid for it himself, spending "a few thousand dollars," he said.

But left out of the process was the entire community of Leadville: its mayor, its firefighters, its police department and many others, including scores of regulators with oversight of the area's old mines and groundwater.

Furthermore, Leadville officials, as well as several state and federal regulators, say they're skeptical any disaster exists. They're also weighing the impacts of the county's actions, including, they said, cancellation of the city's liability insurance.

Residents of a modular-home community near the clogged tunnel also were taken by surprise. Since the announcement of an emergency, some have said they're petrified that they could be swept away in the middle of the night by a raging river of escaping water.

Leadville Mayor Bud Elliott said he is furious at Wiens and the commissioners, saying they "grossly mismanaged" the matter and accused them of "staging" the emergency.

The fallout, he said, includes skiers canceling trips, collapsed real estate deals, and another black eye for a town still reeling from its inclusion as part of a Superfund cleanup site in the 1980s.

"There were ways (to get the problem solved) short of causing panic," Elliott said.

Memo raised fears

To be sure, the disaster declaration appears to have had its intended effect: pushing federal agencies closer to confronting the rising subterranean mine waters.

It also brought a cascade of media coverage and a free-for-all among Colorado's congressional delegation, whose members scrambled to let the public know they were concerned and demanding the federal government act.

The reaction was fueled, in part, by a Lake County commission news release on Feb. 13 that warned of the potential for a "catastrophic failure" of a blocked mine tunnel that could unleash a billion gallons of "toxic acid and metals-laden water."

The statement compared the situation to the 1976 Teton Dam disaster, which released some 80 billion gallons of water. It also warned of 20,000 gallons of water-treatment chemicals stored near the mouth of the collapsed mining tunnel.

"We have elements of Bohopal (sic), India, the Teton Dam and the Summitville Mine in Colorado all rolled into one," it said.

Commissioners and Wiens defended their approach, saying they had to make the declaration of emergency to get the government to deal with the long-simmering problem. In addition, they note, the EPA's top regional chief expressed similar concerns late last year.

Advocates of the declaration also point to a bloated snowpack, suggesting that the spring melt will add to groundwater loads in the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel.

"When you have people that might die, if you didn't (do something) you have to say, 'What am I here for?' " Wiens said, when asked about his role in calling attention to the issue over the past two weeks.

Wiens defended the Web site as an informative, centralized location for updates on the situation. He called suggestions that the site was a vehicle for self-promotion evidence that "no matter what you do" you're going to be criticized. He said it would feature additional people as more become involved.

As for leaving Leadville officials out of the loop, Ken Olsen, a Lake County commissioner, said, "Our communication probably could have been better."

But he didn't want to elaborate on the question. "I have to concentrate my time and effort on the fix; we can review history later," he said.

Regulators of every stripe were careful not to criticize the county's action. But several questioned the sense of impending catastrophe.

"I do think people have the wrong imagery," said Jeff Deckler, a Superfund specialist with the state health department who nevertheless supports plans to drain off the water building inside the blocked tunnel. "When you use words like 'catastrophic failure,' it brings to mind things like the levees in New Orleans."

Further, using the phrase "mine pool" conjures up the idea of a massive lake inside the mountains, also inaccurate, he said.

Scenario disputed

In fact, groundwater is backed behind enormous stores of rock and debris, and is itself intermixed with soil and rock - much like water in a sponge. That makes it unlikely, experts say, that a burst of water will explode out of a hillside like a scene from a disaster film.

"Even if a blowout happened, it wouldn't happen like that at all," Deckler said. "There's a lot of water in the mountain, but (if it came out), it's going to come out over the course of several days, not in an instant."

A similar "blowout" occurred at the Yak Tunnel in Leadville in 1983. But that "didn't look like a flood at all," Deckler said. Instead, flows increased from the tunnel three to five times its normal rate, the water was orange and it polluted the Arkansas River.

"But in terms of a physical or safety hazard, I think we need to put some of that into perspective," he said, echoing several state and federal regulators who expressed similar sentiments.

Even Robbie Roberts, the EPA's regional administrator who signed a letter expressing concern of a blowout, said he didn't know if such a thing would actually happen.

County commissioners, meanwhile, haven't done much to endear themselves to the government agencies they were prodding into speedier action.

At a meeting at the Capitol on Thursday, Commissioner Mike Hickman called the state health department, the EPA and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation "the three stooges," for what he believes to be too much bureaucratic foot- dragging.

Hickman has been unapologetic about the fallout from the disaster declaration and his fiery comments. "We have gotten the runaround (from government) every time - we are extremely frustrated," he said.

He acknowledged that a catastrophic event at the mine tunnel is unlikely, but said a convergence of events makes it possible.

Saving lives, he said, takes precedence over whatever inconveniences strike the Leadville region.

"I view that," he said of the loss of insurance coverage and hits to the town's image, "as temporary."

Leadville mining district added to federal Superfund list to clean up contamination after a century of mining.

* 1995 - Collapse first detected in Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, which was built decades earlier to drain water from underground mines.

* 2005 - Plan developed to pump contaminated mine water from behind the collapse and send to nearby treatment plant.

* October 2007 - Public meeting involving numerous agencies. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation said it doesn't have authority to treat water pumped from the mine tunnel.

* November 2007 - EPA regional administrator writes to BOR's regional chief, expressing concern of a "potentially catastrophic" release of water from the tunnel.

* January 2008 - BOR regional director writes back asking for the "rationale" behind EPA's concern about a catastrophic release and seeking a technical analysis supporting such a statement.

* Feb. 13, 2008 - Lake County commissioners, saying federal agencies need to stop arguing and solve the problem, declare an "emergency disaster" due to potential "catastrophic blowout" of water from the tunnel.

hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5048

Comments

  • February 25, 2008

    7:15 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    lbaker writes:

    Be prepaired for Political lies and government bungeling, like we had here at Summitville.
    120million plus spent here, and the only thing we got out of it was a little grass growing on the old mine site. There never was a cyanide problem at Summitville,and the copper has always been in the creek. But the Clinton Machine got involved and the money was spent as fast as they could. No science,, just politacal lies to make work from nothing..by the way,,there still is alot of gold at Summitville maybe the New President will wake up and let us go back to mining here. There is no danger here never was.

  • February 25, 2008

    8:37 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    woodstock12359 writes:

    I have always believed the saying "follow the money" with regards to politics. Where's the money coming from and who benefits most from its being spent? The answer so far seems to be Mr. Wiens. So, the real emergency here is figuring out what does he want from this and what is he willing to do to get it? Publicity, loyalty from the Commisioners, connections in this department in Washington,votes someday soon....by getting the answers to these questions, Leadville will be able to determine if indeed there is a real problem or if Mr. Wiens just needed a new stage to act out on.

  • February 25, 2008

    9:06 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    farsidefan writes:

    Looks like Mr. Wiens is taking a page from the Mike Coffman playbook of politics.

  • February 25, 2008

    9:37 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    HolierThanThou writes:

    Fools ignored the crumbling levies in New Orleans for years. Engineers spent millions taking measurements and writing reports about the dangers. For years, they published those reports even in the newspapers. No one said it was an emergency. Nothing was done to fix the problem. Then the city was destroyed and thousands of people died because of negligence.

    Tom Weins and the Lake County commissioners are the only ones in the whole story who are doing what the people elected them to do. They're taking action to get the job done. So what if they ruffle some feathers?

    Even if the blow out didn't wash away homes, the pollution would poison the river and hundreds of wells at the very least. The Arkansas River would be ruined.

    Colorado's rivers and water alone are worth protecting.

    If you think it's fine to sit around and let Colorado turn into a polluted Texas crap hole, then I invite you to pack your bags and go live down there. And maybe we'll bring you some of that pollution and dump it on your doorstep. How would you like that?

  • February 25, 2008

    9:55 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    hikingartist writes:

    Gene, let me help you out; Phase 1: Wealthy conservative (Republican) destroys the earth, makes big profit and leaves a huge mess behind. Phase 2; Wealthy conservative (Republican) create environmental clean-up consulting firm and bill taxpayers millions to clean up the mess they created. I think they call it capitalism.

  • February 25, 2008

    10:53 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    slyasafox14k writes:

    I live in Leadville. Our mayor is running for County Commisioner and has done everything in his power to try to make the current County Commisioners look bad. He is just a big bag of wind. His name is Bud Elliot and we call him Bud Idiot. Oh and to answer how hot it gets here. The record high is 85 degrees.

  • February 25, 2008

    10:56 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    motokrzr writes:

    HolierThanThou is none other than Tom Wiens himself. Surprise, surprise. Did you really think we couldn't tell, Tom?

    Tom Wiens, sadly, will always be Tom Wiens. His "concern" is for himself, and his grandious ambitions, which usually end in failure, as can be seen in his past business dealings.

    The Denver Post and the Denver Business Journal have both written some insightful articles about Mr. Wiens in the past. Check 'em out!

  • February 25, 2008

    11:50 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    eagleye writes:

    Hikingartist: When do you think these mines in Leadville (especially the California Gulch area) were put there? Most are well over 100 years old! The owners died before your grandparents were born! Stop trying to blame conservative Republicans for our state's mining heritage. Do you really think anyone (Democrat or Republican) in the 1800's actually thought about the consequences to the environment which their mines would have in the future?

    Comment all you want about Dems and Reps current efforts at cleaning up the environment, but quit trying to politicize mining activity from over a century ago!

  • February 25, 2008

    3:07 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    POHA writes:

    I don't really care how the political beast is run.

    I DO, however, care about the Arkansas river. There's wildlife around there, there's wildlife within the river, and there are a lot of people, both locally and as tourists, who WILL BE affected by toxicity of heavy metals in the Arkansas-- and it doesn't just affect Colorado, it can affect any water system that interconnects downstream with the Arkansas.

    If raising concerns of an emergency was what it took... *shrug* It's not a new issue, but it needs to be addressed, and quickly.

  • February 25, 2008

    3:23 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    thewayiseeit writes:

    This isn't about politics or playing political games. Mining has a corrosive effect on drinking water if the any of the leftovers gets released into our drinking water. I don't believe that the monster flood Wiens stated is accurate, however, he felt that is the only way DC bureaucrats will listen. I can understand why he feels that way.

    Colorado Springs, where I am from, gets a big chunk of our water from the Arkansas. If that water becomes polluted, my family is at risk for becoming very sick. I expect the government to get this problem taken care of for that very reason. I have been to old mines and see the condition they are left in. The pollution contained in these mines would be a major health hazard if it was released in our drinking water. I would be comforted to know that the threat was diverted.

    In terms of the townspeople, I feel that Wiens and others could have been more open about the problem with the very citizens it effects. That is not good policy in my opinion.

  • February 26, 2008

    10:31 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    saveleadville writes:

    forget all the politics... please...... if you care about Leadville or anyone or anything downstream the Arkansas River.

    Please sign the petition

    http://www.savethearkansasriver.org/s...

  • February 27, 2008

    3:30 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    mosandman writes:

    Kudo's to the Mayor for keeping this in the news!! Like the presidential race, no dissent or controversy then "no coverage" no news. The mayor has a responsiblility to do his best with the cards in his hand. Sorry Mayor, bad hand, Doc Holiday you're not, you can't even break even with the political spin that's in play. Hang in there and make it work for the community and its people and the tourists and vacationers will come! I know I will!!!! The last time I was in Leadville was over 40 years ago! "I'll be back!"