Regarding the story headlined “EPA blamed for delay in Superfund,” (Herald, Jan. 26), as noted in the article, this mining pollution problem was 100 years in the making, and it will take some time and concerted effort to craft a long-term solution. While a Superfund listing may likely be a part of that solution, let’s remember that other tools will be needed to comprehensively address this enormous cleanup challenge. Most urgently, we need to pass Good Samaritan legislation. Good Sam gives certain entities such as watershed groups (like the Animas River Stakeholders Group), and nonprofits (like Trout Unlimited) and other qualified groups, the legal protection to clean up some of the dozens of sites that continue to pollute outside the geographical scope of the proposed Superfund site for upper Cement Creek.

It’s encouraging that Rep. Scott Tipton and Sens. Bennet and Gardner have brought forward a discussion draft of a bipartisan Good Samaritan bill in Congress. Please don’t overlook the fact that mining pollution is more than a local problem. It’s regional in scope. And our fellow residents in Creede, Lake City, Ouray, Breckenridge and other communities in Colorado – and across the West – also need Good Sam as a tool for addressing these long-festering sites.

Let’s keep our eyes on the ball and work as a community toward a comprehensive, multipronged solution to this problem. Learn more about our local, grass-roots initiatives at www.sanjuancleanwater.org. Join the dozens of Durango businesses and hundreds of individuals who are supporting a plan for our beloved Animas River. Together, we can make a difference.

Ty Churchwell

Durango