Spring thaw affects site of February’s Irwin snowcat accident, cleanup

Everyone seems to be watching the site

Despite getting three feet of snow this past weekend, the spring melt has started up at Irwin and as a result, the site of a winter Irwin Backcountry Guides (IBG) snowcat accident is thawing out. The Lake Irwin Coalition, the Irwin watchdog group, has taken some photos of the site and expressed concern that there are still contaminants in the lake.

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“As you can see, the various clean up efforts by IBG and Envirotech to remove the spilled contaminants from the town’s water supply have fallen short,” stated LIC president David Gottorff in a letter to the paper that included two photos showing a melting pool on the lake. The pool had a green tint to it.
The letter continued, “It is the position of the LIC that the spill site was not completely cleaned of all the hazardous materials spilled by IBG this past winter. The clean up effort could have been more successful if IBG had immediately reported the spill and taken steps to immediately have the spill site professionally cleaned instead of pushing snow on the spill site to ‘cover it up’ and taking several weeks to address the spill.”
Envirotech Inc. is a New Mexico-based environmental engineering firm hired by Eleven, IBG’s parent company, to clean up and monitor the accident. The accident occurred in a February whiteout when one of the company’s Tucker snowcats tipped over on the way from the ski area to town.
Eleven chief operating officer Kyra Martin said that accusations in the Gottorff letter were not accurate and the company is on pace with the situation.
“We have been watching the site and taking all the measures that were discussed last winter,” Martin said. “We expected there to be some residue from the accident as the lake melted out. That’s why we have several oil-absorbent booms in the area to collect any remaining material. Envirotech did a thorough clean-up last winter but we expected some small residue to show up in the spring. That’s why we are still taking measures and that’s why Envirotech will be coming back to look over the area this spring.”
The Gottorff letter said the bamboo poles marking the site were not present and that the Haz-Mat booms required to be placed near the accident site were also missing. Gottorff and the LIC then accused IBG and the Forest Service of not adequately dealing with the situation.
“These photos show that the USFS and IBG have not competently fulfilled their obligation to protect the town of CB’s water supply and fully clean up the site … It is difficult for the steakholders (sic) in Irwin to comprehend the lack of oversight and obvious bungling of this incident by the USFS and IBG…” the letter stated.
IBG transportation director Brian Barry said the site was still marked. He provided photos showing three environmental booms that were located in the creek by the spillway in an effort to collect any remaining hazardous material. “We are up there every day and we are monitoring the site,” Barry said. “We monitor and replace the booms regularly on the recommendation of Envirotech. We, more than anyone, want to get this completely cleaned up and move on,” he said. “We want to do it right. As there is more melt, we will place another boom around the site of the accident.
“We are communicating with Envirotech regularly and they’ve seen photos of the site,” Barry continued. “Right now we are waiting on the weather to get them back up there. Seeing a sheen on the water doesn’t surprise us, as it doesn’t take much oil or diesel on water to give it that look. That’s why we are monitoring the booms to make sure they are collecting anything that’s left.”
Crested Butte public works director Rodney Due emphasized that the snowcat incident presents no threat to the town’s water supply. “The accident site is located near the spillway and would not come into the town’s intake where Crested Butte’s water supply originates,” he said. “Plus the intake for the town water is 12 feet below the surface and hydrocarbons float on top of the water, not below the surface. There is no way our water supply is impacted. It appears to us that IBG is doing what they are supposed to be doing.
“The town is in regular communication with the Forest Service and the Eleven group,” added Due. “We are on top of the situation.”
As for the Forest Service, they are also watching the situation. “According to the information I’ve received: There are still booms in the creek below the spillway that are being changed out regularly,” stated Forest Service spokesperson Lee Ann Loupe. “There were no booms in the hole on the lake, since that was not prescribed by Envirotech as part of the prescribed treatment. As of April 26, there were still bamboo poles in place, marking the hole on the lake. Someone may have removed the poles since then; the Forest Service is working with IBG to ensure that monitoring and postings are being done and coordinated.”
Envirotech personnel are expected to return and evaluate the site sometime next month or whenever the weather situation allows.