The owner of the Gold King mine, Todd Hennis, spoke out in Silverton Tuesday for the first time since the Aug. 5 spill that dumped millions of gallons of waste water from the mine into the Animas River. What he had to say was not particularly helpful.
Hennis seems to have issues with the Environmental Protection Agency and is probably in negotiations with the agency over its leasing some land of his. And he seems to think the EPA covets his property.
That last seems farfetched, but in any case it is of little broader interest. Hennis’ concerns notwithstanding, this is not about one guy’s issue with a federal agency.
It is about addressing a community problem that in one way or another affects thousands of people across three states, as well as the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Navajo Nation. The issue with the Gold King – and countless other mines above Silverton – is how to clean up a mess more than a century in the making and safeguard our rivers.
The fundamental problem at the Gold King, and mines throughout the West, is that water seeps into old mines, becomes acidic and contaminated with various metals and eventually flows into nearby streams and rivers. That can pose health problems and kill aquatic life. (For a better explanation of the process, including the chemistry, see Jonathan Thompson’s “The truth about mine drainage” (Opinion, Herald, Sept. 6.)
The process is a natural one that has always occurred. The metals and the water were, after all, in the San Juans long before miners. But mining greatly exacerbated its scale.
A private firm working for the EPA triggered the spill, but the actual cause was acid mine drainage. And that problem is and will remain ongoing.
The spill was dramatic because it dumped millions of gallons of contaminated water essentially all at once. The same amount of that same wastewater would have made it to the river in a matter of days had the spill not happened.
Stopping the mine drainage is probably not possible. The fix is to keep contaminants out of the river by cleaning up the runoff, which the EPA is attempting to do with a water treatment plant.
Whatever issues Hennis has with the EPA are a distraction. It is unlikely anyone is trying to steal his property. (Given the Gold King mess and problems with other mines, it is hard to see why anyone would.) It is more likely he is negotiating in public, in part seeking to be absolved of any liability for further discharges.
Everyone else should focus on what matters – cleaning up whatever flows into the Animas.
