There has been an alarming lack of information disclosed by the EPA concerning Gold King mine spill.
Having spent much of my professional career in mine and environmental reclamation, I decided to visit the Gold King site with Rep. J. Paul Brown, R-Ignacio, to assess the blowout and current situation. We were greeted at the site by the EPA project lead Steve Way, who has been working on mine reclamation in the area for some time. We explained our concerns as state representatives and were surprised when Way agreed to give us a tour of the site and discuss the events leading up to the blowout.
According to Way, the EPA’s reclamation goal was to block oxygen from entering the mine network, thus preventing a reaction with the mineral-rich water and further contaminating water flowing downstream. Bulkheads, or human-made blockages, were to be installed on all the mine openings to prevent water leakage and block airways. In theory, the stagnant pools in the mountain would allow the heavy metals to settle and gradually decontaminate the water. Then reclamation crews would create depressurizing streams to allow the decontaminated water to flow out of the mountain. However, the problem with this technique is that all the mine openings must be quickly blocked to prevent pressurized water from escaping through mine openings.
Way said he was very concerned with delays and the slow pace at which the EPA was funding the installation of the bulkheads. He alerted EPA officials to the threat of a mine blowout but said the officials failed to address his concerns. From our observation, the inadequate resources certainly impacted the ground crew’s ability to install the necessary infrastructure to prevent a mine blowout.
Sadly, it appears that Way is going to be the sacrificial lamb here, and that is very disappointing. Way has had an exemplary career, having worked with the Washington, D.C., anthrax-mitigation project and the Hurricane Katrina and World Trade Center recovery efforts. Way and his field team are well-qualified and experienced mine reclamation officials, but it seems the bureaucratic EPA leadership ignored their concerns for a potential blowout.
Not only did senior EPA officials fail to listen to their field agents, they have aggressively sought to downplay the impacts of the river contamination and were suspiciously quick to declare the river safe enough for use. Yet, simply stepping into the river bed instantly stirs up a concentration of toxic heavy metals that returns the water to that infamous mustard-yellow color.
I appreciate the EPA taking responsibility, but doing so by faulting the ground crews who were set up to fail by poor EPA leadership does not make this disaster look any better. The Coloradans, Native Americans and all other downstream users affected by this disaster deserve to know the truth. From what I can see, the blame is on the EPA’s Washington-style politics and the agency’s chief, Gina McCarthy.
Don Coram represents House District 58, which includes Cortez, in Colorado’s General Assembly. Contact Coram by phone at (303) 866-2955 or by email at don.coram.house@state.co.us.
