A banner hanging over Main Avenue at the Ninth Street intersection reads “We love the Animas River. Do You?” The question is rhetorical, of course. How can anyone here not love the Animas River?
The question of why the banner is hanging over that intersection is anything but.
That question, why, comes in variations on the theme, but when asked about the mining pollution in our streams and rivers, it always carries a tone of frustration.
Why are so many waterways of the West still contaminated from mining that took place generations ago? Why haven’t these problems been cleaned up? Who is responsible? Who should pay? And why has this mess been left to us?
Durango’s Trout Unlimited office, the prime mover behind the San Juan Clean Water Coalition, has so far lined up hundreds of individuals and 125 supporting businesses – most local, with more in our immediate region – to help answer those questions and spur action beyond the answers.
The coalition website (www.sanjuancleanwater.org) cites Environmental protection Agency statistics declaring that some 500,000 abandoned mines contaminate 40 percent of all headwater streams and rivers in the West. In simplest terms, acidic runoff leaking from these mines carries dissolved heavy metals in toxic concentrations, killing aquatic life and polluting water downstream for miles.
More importantly, the site offers concise, clear explanations of the difference between point-source and non-point-source mining pollution; describes the tangles of laws that make abandoned mine cleanup a daunting proposition for governments and nonprofit organizations alike; and explains why good Samaritan legislation is desperately needed so that cleanup efforts will not be burdened by crushing liabilities.
If nothing else, read the “Good Sam” page on the site. It is a revelation.
Face it. For years, the relationship between Durango and the Animas, like so many communities built on riverbanks, has been more take than give. It is time to change that.
To paraphrase John F. Kennedy, the question behind the banner is a statement, a call to action: Ask not what the Animas River can do for you. Ask what you can do for the Animas.
Learning more about these issues would be a good start. Joining the coalition and getting involved, even better.
