Re: EPA Goofs

dancingwoman · ‎03-10-2010

When DH and I walked the river today it looked better..but its green now..you can see the yellow deposits on the rocks...shore line and at the bottom of the river...The ducks and little animals are back and the homeless are washing even though there are signs all along the river that it's closed..I guess they don't care...The homeless are another story...I won't go into that now...

Being familiar with the area..we've lived here since 1977 one the things we do at least once a year is to drive to Silverton..(where the mine is)..and when you are on top of the mountain looking down into the valley at Silverton the Animas river there is yellow...the mines have been leaking for years and years...I think that the town of Silverton (from some articles i've read) didn't want "help" from the EPA because sometimes government "help" isn't really help...if you k now what I mean...What happened is an example of that..some are saying it was purposely done so the EPA could build a filteration plant..I don't know..you always hear rumors..

I think if people knew what was going into these rivers where there have been mines for so long they would be horrified of whats in them...we know like Kachina said not to eat the fish from it...

This morning we were at the fish hatchery where the Governor was yesterday.... there was an osprey fishing in one of the waterways where the fish are...he'd dive in and get a fish and take it away and come for another..funny he was fishing at the hatchery..he usually fishes at the river..it was almost like he knew the river was bad...and he should fish were it was safe...lol...

I guess its a developing story...we'll see what happens tomorrow...DW

Puzzle Piece · ‎06-29-2010

@dancingwomanLike your Avatar - Haida art.

Never Forget the Native American Indian Holocaust

dancingwoman · ‎03-10-2010

@Kachina624 wrote:

@biancardi wrote:
Question for those who know these mines better than I do - did the US government own these mines originally? Or were they privately owned and the companies just "left" them for others to deal with?

If the latter, I commend the government for trying to clean up other companies messes. This is why we need the EPA (yes, they made a huge mistake here and I hope they can get it under control). Without the EPA, who would have handled the toxic sludge that was in those mines, if the company just abandoned them or sold them to the US government after they were used up?

The land has always been US Forest Service land but during the gold rush in 1860s and 1870s, miners filed claims on land that gave them the right to all the mineral deposits. Of course back in those days there was no awareness of the need to protect the environment. They just walked away when the ore ran out.

Some of the mines are still periodically operational. I think there's one at Creede (Creede Silver Days in Oct. on Q), and I've been by another that was in operation.

The woman who's head of the EPA was in town and supposedly answered questions except they don't know the answer to the questions people are asking. What a bunch of idiots!

And then you get reports like this:

"Local EPA administrator Shaun McGrath told Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to stop commenting on the river’s improving health during an informal meeting on Tuesday, the Durango Herald reported.

“It doesn’t show where we are at right now,” Region 8 administrator Shaun McGrath reportedly told Hickenlooper. “You have to have a couple of days of data to show that you’re actually back to baseline conditions, and we’re not there yet.”

Hickenlooper, concerned with the closures of businesses that rely on the river, shot back: “That’s nonsense.”"

They are arguing with each other...one agency against the other..both not knowing what they are talking about ....and they wonder why we don't believe anything they are saying...DW

dancingwoman · ‎03-10-2010

@Puzzle Piece wrote:
@dancingwomanLike your Avatar - Haida art.

Thx Rosie...DW

Stray · ‎04-20-2013

@esmeraldagooch wrote:
So will the head of the EPA be fired?

Of course not....I would go further but political .....so

DoneTryin · ‎03-09-2010

In Denver & seeing a lot of this on the local news. One person, reporting from Durango, pointed out all the orange sludge left behind even though the water was starting to run clear. I wonder how they intend to deal with all of that. I was surprised to learn the EPA Director is really just an admin person & not a scientist of any kind. Gov Hickenlooper is a geologist.