The Colorado State Open Thread is open to all, with the principle goal of informing, educating, entertaining and sharing our Square(ish) state with others whether they have ties to Colorado or they just might have an interest in whatever we’re talking about on a given evening. I invite people to comment on whatever topics they’d like down below.
Today’s column will highlight a couple of environmental disasters left over from our state’s mining past that have been in the news lately, but that you may have missed.
From the Farmington Daily Times—
FARMINGTON — The U.S. government, the state of Colorado and Sunnyside Gold Corp. and its owner have reached an agreement over the ongoing cleanup of mining pollution at an area in Colorado that was the source of the Gold King Mine spill in 2015 .
The entities lauded the agreement on Jan. 21, stating it clears the way for further remediation work at the Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund site, where Sunnyside owns property, as well as providing $90 million for ongoing cleanup activities.
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The U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico still needs to approve the consent decree, which would happen after a 30-day public comment period.
The start date for public comment begins when the consent decree is published in the Federal Register, then the comment period will appear on the Department of Justice website, a spokesperson with the department explained on Jan. 21.
I am glad that an agreement has been reached that will hopefully help to clean up this beautiful river area, though I am happy that the orange color disappeared within a year. I really hope they’re able to clean up the Navajo Nation’s irrigation water that they had been using from this source properly and completely.
On a second issue, with the Marshall Fire that burned over a thousand buildings in Louisville, Superior and other areas close to there, the investigation had quickly turned to a shed that was observed burning on land owned by the Twelve Tribes religious organization. There was an investigation done there, but now, apparently, there’s an alternative possible source for the ignition of the fire and that’s tied to old mining operations in the area.
From 9News’ website:
BOULDER, Colo. — While speculation about the cause of Colorado’s most destructive wildfire has focused on a religious group’s property, investigators are also looking at other possible ignition points – including the possibility the blaze erupted from a dormant coal mine, 9Wants to Know has confirmed.
An estimated 38 abandoned coal mine fires are burning underground in Colorado, according to a 2018 state report – including one in the area where the Dec. 30 Marshall Fire is thought to have originated. Fed by ferocious winds, the fire raced across more than 6,000 acres, leveled nearly 1,000 homes, and is believed to have taken at least two lives.
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9Wants to Know has learned that one of the things that has the attention of investigators is a smoldering underground fire in a long-abandoned mine just across the road from the Twelve Tribes property. Known as Marshall No. 1 and 2, the mine is home to a fire that has been burning for years and is rated No. 19 on the list of 38 underground mine fires known to be burning around the state, according to a 2018 report by the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety.
When I worked at StorageTek which was a large company right in that area, it was known that there were tunnels on the property and old mines. I don’t recall being aware of active fires, but that doesn’t surprise me, given that multiple areas that are closed coal mines have fires that burn underground. Pennsylvania in particular has many, but I guess Colorado also has many left over from our mining past.
One last item I found, which is more related to modern life than ancient mines in Colorado, but it’s still got to do with resource extraction from the state, is a plan for Douglas County to suck water from the Alamosa basin aquifer to provide water for vast new housing developments in Douglas County.
From the Denver Gazette:
The project by Renewable Water Resources, a water developer, proposes to tap 25 new groundwater wells in a “confined” aquifer in the valley. That would bring 22,000 acre feet of water to the South Platte River and eventually to a yet-to-be unidentified water provider in Douglas County.
The RWR proposal, which has been underway since 2017, claims a billion acre-feet of water exists in the larger of two San Luis Valley aquifers, a figure disputed by San Luis Valley water experts. One acre-foot is equivalent to 326,000 gallons, or enough water to cover an acre of land, about the size of a football field one foot deep. A confined aquifer is an aquifer that is saturated with water. When drilled, water rises to the top. An unconfined aquifer is what is more commonly referred to as a water table — it rises and falls based on barometric pressure.
RWR's project wants to tap the confined aquifer, which is larger both by geographic footprint and by water volume. The company argued the project is needed to ensure water reliability for Douglas County, and maintained that the plan is sustainable — both for residents of the county and the valley.
The article is long, it has details about the various county commissioners who have been paid off by RWR to support the proposal, the serious misgivings from farmers in the Alamosa area who believe this project would suck their agricultural water away when they’re trying to make sure the aquifer gets replenished and also how the state Attorney General Phil Weiser is ready to go to court to stop this water transfer plan. You know how money talks to commissioners, and housing developers have lots of money at this point in time, especially in the area around Douglas County. I encourage you to go to the link at the Denver Gazette and read, comment, and if you live in the area, submit formal comments to your commissioners who will decide whether to try and go with this issue or not. Quite frankly, I believe that we should be trying preservation and conservation before building more and trusting those who say the water is plentiful — it may exist there now, but five, ten or even twenty years from now, will it exist and we know developers will have taken their money to the bank, leaving residents potentially high and dry. The argument in favor is primarily from the developers who have made large investments in the land and in the commissioners but they’ll be saying that I’m trying to prevent people from enjoying what I enjoy now that I live in Colorado — that I’m trying to pull up the ladder behind me. Well, screw the developers — the land has a carrying capacity and I don’t want that exceeded more than it already has.
Anyway, please leave comments down below on whatever subject may be of interest. It doesn’t have to be one of mine. The floor is yours.