Worries about area tourism impacts of the toxic mine spill in the Animas River were among the topics raised Monday evening at a La Plata County Commissioners "on the road" meeting at Vallecito.
"We've had half a dozen phone calls asking, is this a problem?" Pine River Lodge owner Donna Atkinson said, referrng to the Aug. 5 toxic mine spill that turned the Animas River orange temporarily and made national news. "I haven't seen any problems losing customers, but I'm worried about the future." She worried that it will affect tourism in the entire area. Her family has owned Pine River Lodge for more than 50 years.
County Commissioner Brad Blake said, "It's real. People have cancelled property viewings." Local business development and promotion groups are working to address that, he said, citing the Durango Area Tourism Office (DATO), Durango Business Improvement District (BID), Durango Chamber and La Plata Economic Development Alliance.
County officials met with those groups on Aug. 10 and asked them to identify impacts on businesses, County Manager Joe Kerby said. They are being asked to quantify financial impacts and develop a strategy to combat negative effects on area tourism. That group is meeting once a week, he said.
"I do think there will be an impact we have to combat," Kerby said, citing the now-iconic picture in the Durango Herald of three kayakers in the orange water at Bakers Bridge.
County Commissioner Julie Westendorff said companies that rent paddle boards have been promoting area lakes as an alternate place for people to use their product.
County Emergency Management Director Butch Knowlton gave a recap of the toxic spill from the Gold King Mine above Silverton and the response to it. "We were notified on Wednesday, the 5th. I found out how bad it was from the train crews coming down the canyon. They said it's really ugly. Each one of the trains gave a report, and we were able to track it by milepost. We knew when it would get to the valley" north of Durango.
"The hard part for us was we didn't know what it was, how bad was the water," Knowlton said. "It took the EPA days to take (river water) samples and get them back to us. We finally determined the sediment wasn't as bad as it looked."
He commented, "It's been very rewarding to see the responses that came in, very expensive to the taxpayers of the U.S. This is the first time in my career that I've responded with a bunch of doctorate degree people. Some I enjoyed working with, some you'd want to push out the back door."
As of Monday, he said the Animas River was being affected by a pH imbalance that made the water green.
Westendorff said, "As an injured party, we're tendering bills to the EPA for (county) employees who were taken from their regular jobs, other costs, providing space to the EPA" at the fairgrounds. "And for business owners who lost business. We've given a list of demands to the EPA about compensation and fixing the situation with the mines. They are putting around 1 million gallons per day into the river. And there are other mines. And monitoring domestic water wells" near the Animas.
Commissioner Gwen Lachelt added, "We hired our own water expert to do independent testing and analyze the EPA's analysis," which she described as trust but verify.
"The EPA will be paying for that as well," Westendorff said.
Vallecito Chamber president Paul Eckenrode said, "We appreciate everything you've done. We'd be short-sighted to think we aren't affected in some way."
