LEADVILLE — There was an edginess to the tone a Colorado state senator took with U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar on Saturday over the federal government’s dealing with a hazard waiting to become a catastrophe.
“We need to push past expressing concern and start demanding action,” Sen. Tom Wiens, R-Castle Rock, told Salazar, referring to a blockage inside the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel that could burst, unleashing a billion gallons of toxic water onto a small trailer court and into the Arkansas River.
Salazar met with Wiens, whose district includes Leadville, and Lake County commissioners on Saturday to tell them about steps he has taken to resolve the pending crisis and to get feedback from local leaders.
“I don’t think pointing fingers is where we need to get,” Salazar said to Wiens.
He also cautioned county and state leaders about overstating the hazard that has existed since the 1970s, saying that publicity over being a federal Superfund site since 1983 has already stunted economic growth.
The slightly heated exchange was short-lived. Lake County commissioners thanked Salazar for his efforts to address the tunnel emergency.
The tunnel, which is owned and operated by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, has a major blockage nearly 200 feet high, and behind the blockage is about 1 billion gallons of toxic acid- and metal-laden water.
Because of a buildup of pressure, the blockage could blow out, threatening lives and destroying homes, the Lake County commissioners said in a news release Wednesday. Officials are particularly concerned because the snowpack is 170 percent of normal, and the extra moisture will only increase pressure on the blockage.
Wiens said water has been seeping through the ground miles from the tunnel.
On Friday, Gov. Bill Ritter asked President Bush to take immediate action to “avert a catastrophic event.”
On the same day, local, state and federal officials agreed to a four-point plan, including pumping water out of the mine shaft beginning this week, conducting a risk assessment, creating an incident action plan should the tunnel explode and testing groundwater for contamination.
After the Saturday meeting with county and state officials, Salazar inspected the tunnel while several reporters and photographers watched from behind a fence. Facing the fence were about a dozen mobile homes and behind them was the frozen-over Arkansas River.
Wiens also had to wait outside the mine for “national security” reasons, and he indicated Salazar’s advice to him was still stinging.
“I’m sick of this,” he said to reporters. “We’re not supposed to point fingers?”
Meanwhile, Leadville residents bought up all the bottled water at the local Safeway store, a measure officials said was not necessary because the water in town is not yet polluted. Lake County commissioners said people were asking them whether they should move out of town.
“I’m a mountain person. I’m a fighter. I was born and raised here,” said Diana Holt, 50, who lives beside the Arkansas River. “We’ve dealt with 10-foot snowdrifts before. This is bad, though. I don’t recall anything like this.”
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
