LEADVILLE — Federal officials Monday pledged $1.5 million to pump water from a blocked mine-drainage tunnel within two months and promised to siphon off water from an adjacent mine shaft within a week to ease fears of a catastrophic blowout.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will use emergency funds to drain the Gaw shaft in Leadville’s historic mining district as a first step in easing the pressure on the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel.
The move would mark a turning point in seven years of local efforts to avoid a flood and environmental damages from metals- laden mine runoff.
“We finally have all the people at the table to take care of this problem,” said Lake County Commissioner Mike Hickman. “It seems like we’re coming together on a plan.”
The county commissioners last week declared an emergency after more than a billion gallons of water had built up underground behind the blockage and began seeping out of new springs.
That sparked worries among residents in the East Fork Village trailer park located just outside the tunnel and also spurred political pressure from the state’s congressional delegation, as well as jump-started stalled efforts by the EPA and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to drain the pool.
The EPA will begin draining what is believed to be clean water from the Gaw shaft directly into the Arkansas River, said Superfund site supervisor Mike Holmes.
The cost has not been determined, but money is available in the agency’s emergency fund, Holmes said.
The EPA also agreed to a plan to widen an existing shaft behind the blockage and pump water directly from the tunnel — a process that could begin in four to eight weeks — at a cost of $1.5 million.
“My boss is in Washington, D.C., right now trying to procure funding,” said Bill Murray, regional director of the Superfund remedial program.
Officials from the Bureau of Reclamation also offered to accept extra water at their treatment plant at the mouth of the tunnel and pledged to rewrite an emergency plan in case of a blowout.
“We’re going to work with folks to come up with something that looks like it will work,” said Don Moomaw, assistant regional director for the bureau. “We’re going to move as fast as possible.”
Officials also recommended diverting clean water from two other sources so that it doesn’t flow into the tunnel.
“If we could somehow turn the faucet off so that the pool does not refill . . . that makes sense,” said Jeff Deckler, remedial programs manager for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
County commissioners first complained about what they feared was a dangerous buildup of water in 2001.
Olga Valenzuela, who lives near the tunnel, scolded officials for neglecting the problem for so long.
“They tell us the tunnel has been here for years, but the problem can happen in five minutes,” she said.
