The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Town will be notified immediately of any spill
by Mark Reaman
Some confusion over when to notify the town of any spill at the old Standard Mine led the Environmental Protection Agency to wait a day before notifying the town of a small spill at the site two weeks ago.
That confusion has been cleared up and now the EPA will immediately notify the town of any spill into the watershed.
As part of reclamation work going on at the site, the EPA informed the town that about 100 gallons of water from the mine had leaked into Elk Creek. Elk Creek flows into Coal Creek, which sources the town’s drinking water. At the time of the spill the town’s intake gate was closed. Interim town manager Bill Crank told the Town Council at the August 15 meeting that the staff was upset the EPA had waited 25 hours before notifying the town of the leak, even though it was minor and the gate was closed to the reservoir.
EPA Region 8 public affairs specialist Katherine Jenkins explained how the situation unfolded. “A small volume (less than 100 gallons) of mine water bypassed intended treatment when a filtration bag ruptured on Thursday, August 11, in the process of draining a historic adit at Standard Mine. A portion of that water volume was released into Elk Creek, but dissipated before reaching Coal Creek based on sampling data. The EPA communicated with the Crested Butte Public Works director and others after fully investigating the incident and collecting sampling data to inform a report for town officials. We’ve since had productive meetings with town officials to reiterate our commitment to improving communication, including positive discussions to clarify details and specific expectations of how we develop information and improve the timing of our notifications.”
Crested Butte Public Works director Rodney Due said the town and EPA staffs had met at the end of last week, and indeed the two entities reached a consensus on how to deal with such situations in the future.
“The breakdown came with the communication protocols within the Emergency Action Plan, specifically, the difference between a Low Consequence event and a Medium Consequence event,” explained Due. “Unlike the Medium and High Consequence events that specifically state immediate notification to the town, the Low Consequence event only stated that the town needed to be notified, but there was no specific time frame.
“As a result, it was made clear at least week’s meeting that ‘any time’ mine-influenced water enters into Elk Creek, the town needs to be notified immediately,” continued Due. “This will allow the town time to close the head gate, regardless of the amount of the spill. This will be corrected in the Emergency Action Plan.”
The council was especially sensitive to any spill going into Coal Creek, given last summer’s major spill into the Animas River above Durango. The EPA admitted responsibility in that situation. There was also a medium-sized spill of about 600 gallons of water and sediment from the Standard Mine last October that drew criticism from the council and local residents.
