Ritter urges action on Leadville tunnel

Posted by egable on February 15th, 2008 filed in Water, Mining, Superfund

Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D) today urged President Bush to take action concerning the buildup of contaminated water from the California Gulch Superfund site in the Leadville Mine drainage tunnel.

The tunnel discharged directly into the Arkansas River for decades, but much of the tunnel’s discharge has been treated at a wastewater treatment plant operated by the Bureau of Reclamation since 1992. Recently, collapses within the tunnel have created a blockage resulting in a large pool that could hold as much as 1 billion gallons of contaminated water.

The state of Colorado and Environmental Protection Agency have warned the Bureau of Reclamation since 2001 that the water could be released into the Arkansas River, contaminating the drinking water supply for 500,000 people and degrading the river for decades.

Above-normal snowpack levels have exacerbated the dangers, since large quantities of water are expected to infiltrate the mine with the spring runoff, raising the elevation of the underground lake.

“The issue is now approaching a crisis stage,” Ritter wrote.