Sex, Lies, and the EPA Spill

by Kim D.

Okay, there's no actual "sex" involved in this story. So let me apologize for my little attention-getting lie in an attempt to highlight something much, much worse: possible deception discovered surrounding the recent EPA spill and contamination of the Animas River. In fact, if this new allegation against the EPA proves true, it would be one of the grossest examples of government agency abuse, ranking somewhere along the lines of Hitler's burning of the Reichstag in which the Nazi regime intentionally set fire to a government building, blamed it on rogue communists, and then seized the opportunity to solidify control. 

In other words, the EPA may have just pulled a "hurt and rescue" operation of epic proportions. The contamination of the Animas River may just be a "Superfund" Reichstag, where the EPA intentionally caused the spill (hurt), in order to secure a large chunk of taxpayer dollars to create yet another "Superfund" site (the rescue).

The EPA has admitted that it caused the toxic waste spill during the planned Red & Bonita Mine Site Removal Action plugging of mines which has contaminated the Animas River in Colorado. After only one week, the murky, orange spill has flowed from Colorado, to New Mexico, and on into Utah, polluting over 100 miles of river, leaving the uniformed masses outraged and wondering how in the hell something like this could have happened. To understand better, perhaps looking back to the original days of mining may help to explain what led to this disaster.

Photo Credit: Amimas River Prior to Spill

Once gold was discovered in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado in the 1800s, prospectors came and a boom in the mining industry soon followed. Back in the day, no regulations limited mining and speculators could dig for minerals wherever they wanted and they did so on the land that borders the beautiful Animas River.

According to Ronald Cohen, an environmental engineer at the Colorado School of Mines, whenever you dig into a mountain, "at some point you are going to hit water." This water, when it runs through the rocks in a mine, hits a mineral called pyrite, or iron sulfide. It reacts with air and pyrite to form sulfuric acid and dissolved iron. That acid then continues through the mine, dissolving other heavy metals, like copper and lead. Eventually, you end up with water that's got high levels of undesirable materials in it.

Unable to perceive future environmental concerns, miners of the 19th and early 20th centuries erected and eventually abandoned 22,000 mines in Colorado. As for the water the miners consequentially contaminated, it was basically dumped back in creeks and ponds where it would become more acidic. A century later, these abandoned mines continue to leech toxic waste in Colorado rivers, creating potential ecosystem safety concerns to which the EPA has previously proposed a solution: declare this area a Superfund site and let the taxpayers foot the cleanup bill. The technology to clean the dirty water exists: a limestone water treatment plant. 

Opposed to the notion of becoming a Superfund site, many Coloradans have been skeptical of the EPA's proposal and have seen it as a threat to tourism and to the prospect of a future mining industry revival. As a temporary solution, the Animas River Stakeholders Group has been working on a cleanup effort alongside the EPA, but environmentalists have not been satisfied and have reverted back to pushing for the Superfund.

If only something would happen to shake up the naysayers and prove, once and for all, that the EPA was right. Oh wait . . . something did happen . . . and it was huge. On August the 5th, EPA workers accidentally punctured what was believed to be a dam during the planned plugging project and subsequently released millions of gallons of toxic waste into the Animas River. Was this a huge "I told you so" moment for those in favor of a Superfund?

According to Dave Taylor, it was much more than that. A disaster like this was destined to happen and the EPA knew it. In fact, Mr. Taylor predicted the toxic waste spill a week before it actually happened in his letter to the editor published in the Silverton Standard on July 30th. A retired geologist, Taylor claimed the EPA was planning a maneuver (the Red & Bonita plugging project) that had the potential of causing mineshaft toxins to flood into rivers. He even gave the government agency a motive: the need to secure funding. 

In his letter to the editor, "EPA plan is really a 'Superfund blitzkrieg,'" Taylor lays out a scenario based on his 47 years as a professional geologist:

Following the plugging, the exfiltrating water will be retained behind the bulkheads, accumulating at a rate of approximately 500 gallons per minute. As the water backs up, it will begin filling all connected mine workings and bedrock voids and fractures. As the water level inside the workings continues to rise, it will accumulate head pressure at a rate of 1 PSI per each 2.31 feet of vertical rise. As the water continues to migrate through and fill interconnected workings, the pressure will increase. Eventually, without a doubt, the water will find a way out and will exfiltrate uncontrollably through connected abandoned shafts, drifts, raises, fractures and possibly from talus on the hillsides. Initially it will appear the the miracle fix is working. "Hallelujah!"

Perhaps this sounds like Greek since geology speak has never been known to nor will ever be clever or entertaining, however, Mr. Taylor appears to understand the technical aspects and is greatly disturbed by the EPA's miracle plugging fix. He goes on to make a startling prediction:

But make no mistake, within seven to 120 days all of the 500 gpm flow will return to Cement Creek. Contamination may actually increase due to disturbance and flushing action within the workings. The "grand experiment" in my opinion will fail.

Taylor then provides the ammunition behind his prediction by foreshadowing what the EPA's response will be to a massive water contamination disaster.

Gee, "Plan A" didn't work so I guess we will have to build a treatment plant at a cost to taxpayers of $100 million to $500 million (who knows). Reading between the lines, I believe that has been the EPA's plan all along. The proposed Red & Bonita plugging plan has been their way of getting a foot in the door to justify their hidden agenda for construction of a treatment plant. After all, with a budget of 8.2 billion and 17,000 employees, the EPA needs new, big projects to . . . justify their existence.

The way Taylor explains it leaves only two possible conclusions about the EPA in the wake of the Animas River contamination spill. 1) Either the EPA is frought with incompetent boobs or (2) this was a hurt and rescue scheme that has backfired terribly. Either way, those who live along and depend upon the Animas River are in a hell of a mess and the taxpayers are on the hook for the cleanup bill. Maybe, along with Planned Parenthood, it's time to defund the EPA and abandon the notion of environmentalism and return to one of conservationism to better protect America's natural resources.