It took more than two decades for a Superfund listing to be declared for the leaching toxic mines around Silverton, and local and state officials are worried about future funding under the Trump administration.
Trump on Monday imposed on the Environmental Protection Agency an immediate freeze of all grants and contracts, and on Tuesday ordered a media blackout, barring agency personnel from talking about specific impacts to projects.
The administration also ordered a temporary suspension of all new business activities, which include issuing task orders or work assignments to EPA contractors.
It’s unclear how the freeze might impact work at the Bonita Peak Mining District, which includes 48 mining sites around Silverton responsible for degrading water quality in the Animas River.
The mining district was designated in September as Superfund site, with EPA personnel saying the agency would take the winter to formalize a comprehensive cleanup plan after a summer of gathering research on the watershed and network of mines.
The EPA team was to make its monthly visit, which usually occurs the last full week of the month, to Durango and Silverton on Monday. An agency employee said Tuesday the trip was canceled because of weather, and was unsure if there would be a visit in February.
“I don’t know what our plans are,” the employee said. “We’re regrouping.”
The employee did not respond to additional inquiries.
Officials in La Plata and San Juan counties were not briefed on how the freeze would impact the Bonita Peak Superfund site, if at all.
Laurie Cipriano, spokeswoman for Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colorado, said the office is extremely concerned about Trump’s decision.
“We are working to determine how this freeze may affect the Gold King Mine spill cleanup and monitoring,” she wrote in an email. “We also need to ensure that the freeze doesn’t affect our ability to clean up contaminated industrial sites or to protect our air and drinking water.”
Mark Salley, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health and Environment, a state agency that works closely with EPA on Superfund cleanups, had little information when contacted Tuesday.
“We have not received any official notification about an EPA freeze on contracts/grants,” Salley wrote in an emailed response.
Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he is concerned about implications of the action on Colorado’s air and water.
ProPublica, the news agency that first reported the EPA freeze on Monday night, obtained an email from an EPA contracting officer that said the agency was in a “holding pattern.”
“The new EPA administration has asked that all contract and grant awards be temporarily suspended, effective immediately. Until we receive further clarification, this includes task orders and work assignments.”
According to The Washington Post, Doug Ericksen, communications director for Trump’s EPA transition team, said the communications ban should be lifted by the end of this week.
“We’re just trying to get a handle on everything and make sure what goes out reflects the priorities of the new administration,” Ericksen said.
Ericksen is also quoted in The Washington Post saying the freeze on contracts and grants “won’t apply to pollution cleanup efforts or infrastructure construction activities,” which the Bonita Peak Superfund site would likely fall under.
“President Trump, like every other president, is reviewing the current work at the federal agencies through temporary freezes,” Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colorado, said in a statement Tuesday to The Durango Herald. “The EPA’s intended nominee has committed to reviewing the issues surrounding the Gold King Mine spill, and I will hold him to this promise.”
Gardner is referencing Trump’s pick to lead the EPA, Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, who pledged last week to review the EPA’s ruling that it was federally protected from having to pay damage claims related to the August 2015 spill.
Gardner worked to secure a $260,000 grant from the EPA in September to help cover the cost of response and cleanup associated with the mine spill.
Durango City Councilor Dean Brookie said it was fortunate a Superfund was declared this fall, but expressed concern that future funding for the cleanup site could disappear. He noted there could be significant impact to Durango and the surrounding area if all EPA funding disappeared.
In 2016, the city of Durango was awarded $55,403 in grants from the Environmental Protection Agency, according to USAspending.gov, a federal database.
“The impact of this will be to truly everybody, not just for Superfund,” he said. “So many jobs, so many grants that come to Durango could be in jeopardy.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com
This story originally stated the city of Durango was awarded $29 million in grants from the EPA. It was updated Wednesday afternoon.
