CREEDE, Colo.—Federal regulators have proposed adding an abandoned mining site near Creede to the national priorities list of Superfund sites, a designation that could unlock more money for cleanup.
For eight years, local, state and Environmental Protection Agency officials have worked on cleaning up the Willow Creek watershed, whose fish populations have been affected by contamination from silver, lead and zinc mining.
However the next stage of cleanup looks to be more complex, prompting the move to place the Nelson Tunnel/Commodore Waste Rock site on the national list of hazardous waste sites, EPA spokeswoman Peggy Linn said.
A drainage from the Nelson Tunnel near Creede has been identified as the largest source of cadmium, lead and zinc in the Willow Creek watershed, the EPA said Wednesday.
Contaminated water also discharged into mine waste piles accumulating in the watershed.
In 2005, drainage constructed around the Commodore Waste Rock pile surrounding the drainage failed during a flood. The town of Creede is at risk of contamination if there is another flood, either from heavy rains or spring runoff, the EPA said.
The EPA is working to stabilize the drainage, Linn said.
The EPA said a biological assessment of the Willow Creek watershed indicated concentrations for cadmium, lead, and zinc topped water standards for fish and birds. No fish exist for about a two-mile stretch below the site, and the sparse populations below that appear to be suffering from metal contamination, the EPA said.
Putting the Nelson Tunnel/Commodore Waste Rock site on a national priorities list would make it eligible to receive federal cleanup funds while the EPA seeks to recover funds from parties responsible for contamination. If no parties are found or if the parties cannot pay, Superfund dollars would be used for cleanup.
“Because of the complexity and cost of cleaning up the contamination coming from the Nelson Tunnel, adding this site to the National Priorities List is one of the few viable options that will ensure the work gets done,” said Gwen Christiansen, environmental scientist and engineer for EPA. “The cleanup will improve water quality while protecting the rich mining history and historical structures in the area.”
The public has 60 days to comment on the EPA proposal.
Linn said several parties mined in the area and may have been potentially responsible for the contamination. She would not identify them.
The site is not in the city of Creede, although the city is about a mile below it.
“Of course, when we first heard the word Superfund, we all panicked,” said City Manager Clyde Dooley. After in-depth talks with EPA officials and reviewing lessons learned from other cleanups, Dooley said, the city is comfortable with the EPA’s proposal.
“We hope this will be a postcard example of what everybody has learned from cleanup areas,” he said.
———
On the Net:
