The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Stormwater management plan requested
The Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment has amended its Compliance Advisory issued to U.S. Energy in December 2010. The division amended the advisory after accepting comments from the mining company, the town of Crested Butte, and the public. The new advisory will require additional water monitoring points and a plan to control and monitor stormwater runoff from U.S. Energy’s Keystone Mine Site on Mt. Emmons.
The mining company has a water treatment plant permit to treat acid mine drainage before it is discharged into Coal Creek, which flows through Crested Butte. But the December Compliance Advisory told U.S. Energy that the stormwater management plan required by an additional General Stormwater Discharge Permit was inadequate to ensure that runoff into Coal Creek stayed within state water quality standards.
The determination was made after reviewing U.S. Energy’s own monitoring data and sets in place a path to compliance rather than enforcement through litigation, which could ultimately delay compliance. According to High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA), the amendment is a step in the right direction.
“HCCA is pleased that the division heard our concerns and is requiring U.S. Energy to develop a new plan,” said Steve Glazer, HCCA water program director.
He went on to say, “The division is not yet saying it is going to create limits, but it wants to see controls effective enough to prevent discharge of pollutants in excess of the limits. It’s more of a narrative standard than numeric standards.”
The division will issue the amended permit by May 1, 2011, including a timeline for status reports and the completion of a new stormwater management plan. It will be up to U.S. Energy to submit that management plan and have it approved by the division.
“Since the surface runoff is almost as contaminated as the groundwater, we are hoping the division may require the surface water to be diverted into the water treatment before being discharged,” said Glazer.
The amendment comes just as U.S. Energy is developing a new Plan of Operations (PoO) for the Keystone treatment plant at the request of the U.S. Forest Service. According to Gunnison district ranger John Murphy, the Forest Service requested a new PoO because the ownership of the wastewater treatment plant has changed hands since the current PoO was put in place in 1979.
“A PoO is nontransferable. If there is a change in ownership, they should have a new PoO put in place, and that was never done,” he said.
The stormwater treatment plan agreed upon between U.S. Energy and the State will likely impact the new PoO, which will address wastewater and stormwater treatment. But the extent of that impact remains a moving target, according to Murphy, as the state and U.S. Energy work through a plan.
U.S. Energy was unavailable for comment.
