Pueblo Chieftain Urges Presidential Action

Daily newspaper serves Pueblo, Colorado, economic hub of southeastern Colorado and northern New Mexico, and located downstream from Leadville.

Mountain peril

EDITORIAL
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN

THE LAKE County commissioners voted last week to ask for an emergency declaration from Gov. Bill Ritter and President Bush due to a plugged mine drainage tunnel in danger blowing, disgorging millions of gallons of water laced with heavy metals and acids. On Friday, the governor urged the president to take immediate action.

State Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, whose district includes Lake County, also had asked the governor to proclaim a state of emergency for the Arkansas River watershed and direct the Bureau of Reclamation to take immediate steps to prevent a threat from the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel. We applaud the governor's quick response.

That tunnel was created by Reclamation to expedite mining in the region's mountains during World War II and the Korean Conflict. Over the years, tunnel cave-ins have created a giant plug.

In his letter seeking the emergency declaration, Sen. Wiens said, "Behind this blockage sits a mine pool of approximately 1 billion gallons of toxic acid- and metal-laden water, now almost 200 feet high. The resulting buildup of water pressure behind the blockage represents an immediate risk of catastrophic blowout."

Sen. Wiens is also proposing a legislative resolution supporting the disaster declaration because, he said last week, the entire Arkansas River watershed is threatened. What's more, the lives of 400 people living in a trailer park below the tunnel would be imperiled should the plug blow out.

The Environmental Protection Agency has urged Reclamation to take action. Among other things, the pressure is forcing contaminated water through geological fissures into the already-cleaned-up Yak Tunnel Superfund site.

Another threat is to the Parkville Water District, which serves Leadville. It could lose as much as 30 percent of its water supply, according to Manager Greg Teter.

Lake commissioners are seeking $5 million to $10 million for an immediate quick fix, but a permanent solution is estimated to cost $40 million. This situation poses a threat to life, public health and the environment, one which cannot be allowed to come to fruition.

In the grand scheme of the federal budget, $40 million is not an unreasonable sum, and we join Gov. Ritter in urging President Bush to expedite the needed action by Reclamation.