It’s difficult to wax poetic about the Gold King Mine spill as so many others have. I’ve lived on the river for 23 years, and over that period of time, I’ve seen rocks on the bank turn Broncos orange from time to time. Eight or 10 years ago, there was a 8,500 cubic feet per second flow that rechanneled the river, taking six 100-year-old ponderosa pines and an acre of our land downstream.
Quite frankly, I’m more concerned about the rude river runners who trespass and then flip me off after they’ve used my land for a toilet, than the heavy metals in the water.
I suspect that the whiney eco-freaks who point to the mine owners as greedy capitalists as the cause of this disaster don’t have a clue about the 1872 Mining Law. Over the past 50 years, there have been countless opportunities to change this law with a Democrat president and both houses of congress in the D column. In case it escaped their attention, there are mining operations in blue states, too.
Finally, I want to point out that my opposition to the EPA Clean Water Act is the fact that the EPA has lied through its teeth about monitoring ditch water for ag use. With the exception of the Wall Street Journal, no news media have reported the fact that the EPA can monitor ditch water in Federal Emergency Management Agency designated flood zones. That takes in most of the north Animas valley.
It’s time to move on and quit blaming the other guy.
Dennis Pierce
Durango
