Feds offered $30 million for Leadville's $50 million problem

Denver Post -- Gov. Ritter requests long-term funding, but a long-term deal involving a handover of the treatment plant to the state fell through in 2005.

February 25, 2008 -- The Denver Post reported today that Gov. Ritter has asked U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dirk Kempthorne for long-term support in addressing the threat posed by the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel (LMDT) and a 13-year backup of contaminated water.

The article also reviewed a long-running dispute between the state and 2 Federal agencies, the Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency.

The Bureau bought the LMDT in 1959, and in 1992, built the water-treatment plant after the EPA placed the mining district on the Superfund list. In 2005, the 2 agencies determined that the operation of the plant should be handled by the state, but the deal fell through when the state requested $50 million to offset costs and Federal officials countered with only $30 million.

In answer to Lake County's declaration of a state of emergency, the Bureau has so far agreed only to a quick-fix pumping to lower by a few percent the level of the toxic mine pool.

Read the Denver Post story