Hello Durango, Where Have You Been?
People Kayak the Animas River north of Durango, Thursday, August 6th, one day after the Gold King Mine spill. Photo Jerry McBride, Durango Herald via AP
“Koyaanisqatsi” is the Native American Hopi word for life out of balance
This is the sixth in a ten part series called “Through the Lens of the Animas River” that explores the August 5, 2015 Animas River spill in southwest Colorado. Each blog in this series looks at a different aspect and deeper story behind the spill. All Embracing Change Blog is focused on change, how to create it, embrace it and in particular the relationship between paradigms of countries, cultures and collective humanity relate to the systems we build, the patterns we see and experiences we have. All of those are change points, areas we can influence change but require different approaches and time scales. Learn more about a change, paradigm shifts or play Blame It Name It Change It or sign up for the All Embracing Change Newsletter. The first blog was titled, “Who Really Turned My River Orange?” and second “How to Get Rid of the Environmental Protection Agency” followed by “Is the Water in the Gold King Mine a Problem?”, “To Superfund or Not to Superfund Silverton.” and “ The Perfect Response to an Orange River”.
On August 5, 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accidently released a spill of metals laden acidic mine water from the Gold King Mine. This turned the Animas River orange and the entire country watch this butterscotch plume travel from Silverton, Colorado through Durango, on to Aztec and Farmington, New Mexico, then Bluff, Utah and into Lake Powell. The plume also went through Southern Ute and Navajo Nation Tribal Lands. The story went viral and international. Perhaps that is because an orange river is an excellent visual story or maybe the irony that EPA caused a harmful spill and they are the agency responsible to protect us from such spills.
Where was Durango before the spill? Where were any downstream communities? We intuitively know all rivers flow downstream and someone is always upstream of you. As previous blogs have noted, any cleanup in Silverton would first be measured and experienced in Durango, 70 miles downstream. The recovery zone, the zone below the impact and that might resemble no impacts at all, would be in Durango. That is because the impact was chronic (low magnitude, short duration and seasonal in frequency) that far down river. In Silverton, concentrations caused acute (high magnitude, long duration and very frequent) exposure.
All the work by the Animas Stakeholders, Sunnyside Mine Corp, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety, the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service, all of whom are Animas Stakeholder members as paid off. At Baker’s Bridge metal concentrations were statistically better than pre Stakeholder efforts. Trout communities reflected this change too. More trout and species of trout were found further upstream. This was encouraging. For background the fishery on the Animas from upstream to downstream looks like the following, keep in mind that one or two species of trout in Colorado is diverse. A viable brook trout population resides above Silverton. Cement Creek (where Gold King Mine resides and the American Tunnel discharged), through Silverton the Animas is void of fish, conditions are acute. The Animas flows into a canyon and wilderness area and after some tributaries and changes in geology, a small brook trout fishery with few adults resides. Further down the canyon before the Animas Valley, the river improves to the degree four species of trout survive, native cutthroat, brook, rainbow and brown trout. Native scuplin and suckers exist as well. The gradient drops once out of the Canyon and into the valley above town, which is not prime trout habitat. Once the Animas hits Durango, the gradient picks up and primarily rainbow and brown trout reside, along with scuplin and suckers. There is a Gold Medal Trout section on the Animas in south Durango. This is a Colorado Parks and Wildlife designation that recognizes waters that sustain many large adult trout over a distance and time. Below Durango, the Animas becomes a transition stream into warmer waters, flows into the San Juan which flows into Lake Powell. This becomes habitat for warm water species as well as the four Colorado River endangered fish species.
Durango has benefited, even if they are unaware. These benefits began to decline, in part from urban runoff, drought, elevated nutrients and other stressors, but in part due to the increased toxic water that began to drain from mines that were not draining earlier, see Blogs 1 through 4 for details. This point is really geographically broader asking where have all the impacted communities been? In the 2002 drought and before there were efforts to host a San Juan River Forum to address water quality issues from a regional perspective but never gained enough momentum to work effectively across jurisdictional boundaries.
What makes this more interesting about Durango, is this spill was not the first. We humans have short memories. Durango used to get their drinking water from the Animas River. Durango grew during the Gold Rush and the economy depended on and supported mining in Silverton. Durango had its own mining legacy. Between 1942 and 1946, on Smelter Mountain, vanadium ore was processed and uranium ore processed from 1949-1963. The site became a Department of Energy site from 1948 – 1953. Because it was a Department of Energy site, it was eligible for cleanup under the Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) Projects. Soils were moved to disposal sites, vegetation and topsoil renewed after all buildings and structures were long gone. The site is now home to Durango’s dog park and is adjacent to the Animas River.
Long before uranium mining was profitable, the Animas River and Durango was impacted by a polluted Animas River. The source, active mining in Silverton. This is not good or bad, just was. Mines in Silverton were using the best practices of the times and that included using the river to send your waste downstream. Durango did use the Animas River as a drinking water source in those days, until they couldn’t. At some point the river in Durango was so fouled with mine waste, rather than deal with changing mine operations or other approaches, Durango built a reservoir one watershed to the east and piped in clean drinking water.
Today, Durango only uses a small portion of the Animas River in the summer when demand is high for drinking water and urban uses. That water is mixed with Florida River water and delivered to town residents. The recent spill shut off that intake and Durango officials asked residents to conserve water. Conserve they did, cutting back usage by 70%, a whopping 70%. That was for a week. Many residents questioned the reopening of the river after the spill for drinking water, in part due to the unknowns about the sediments still, but in part because residents demonstrated they could conserve. So, let them under the guise of more certainty. .Open the river next year. One thing is sure, most residents did not know where their drinking water came from. Nor did they understand that their drinking water is tested far more rigorously than bottled water. Suffice it to say, they know now.
Still curious to me is the response. It is true Durango has grown and people have left, so many may not remember previous Animas River spills. In June of 1975, a huge tailings pile on the banks of the upper Animas River northeast of Silverton was breached. This released over ten thousand gallons of water, along with an estimated 50,000 tons of metal laden tailings into the river. For 100 miles downstream the river “looked like aluminum paint” according to the Durango Herald. Fish placed in sentinel cages then all died within 24 hours. Compared to this spill, 3 million gallons, more than 100 miles traveled and sentinel rainbow trout fry survived the 96 hour exposure.
There were numerous breaches like this of various magnitudes. Ten years before this breach, the same tailings pile was found to be leaching cyanide laced water into the River. In 1978, Sunnyside Gold Corp mine workings got to close to the bottom (underground) of Lake Emma and the lake fell through the mine and burst out about 500 million gallons of water, raging through the mines, sweeping up huge machinery, tailings and sludge and blasted out the American Tunnel downstream to Durango. This happened during the evening so no lives were lost but some could have been.
A new normal is set. The spill moved the recovery zone back downstream and delayed in time. Many were inconvenienced and just want EPA, Superfund or whomever to take care of it all so they can go back to their bubble. That is not okay. There is no such thing as an insulated bubble. Everyone must stay awake until the job is done. The accidental EPA spill from the Gold King Mine has Durango’s attention now. That attention needs to be funneled into constructive long term change to provide a sense of peace. If people want a sense of peace that means business as usual and someone else take care of this, that is kicking the can down the road. A real, long term sense of piece means doing something different, all of us. After visiting the Lower Ninth Ward on the Anniversary of Katrina, August 29th this year. They are suffering already from flood amnesia. Parts of the arid southwest are in drought amnesia. This area, and all headwater communities as well as all Colorado citizens have had legacy mining amnesia.
Part 7 of the “Through the Lens of the Animas River” blog series that explores the August 5, 2015 Animas River spill in southwest Colorado, is titled, “Why it Matters When A River Turns Orange”.
“We cannot be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.” Jimmy Carter.