Commissioners want some more answers from the EPA over mine drainage issues.

Lake County Commissioners are wondering why the Environmental Protection Agency shut off a pump that could help lower water tables and reduce pressure on Leadville’s sanitation system.

Commissioner Ken Olsen pressured EPA Regional Superfund Director Bill Murray on the issue Tuesday during a conference call on ongoing issues with mine drainage at the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel and in nearby California Gulch.

The pump is still in place at the Gaw Shaft, south of Leadville and below the Yak Tunnel Superfund site. The shaft was pumped earlier this year, after commissioners declared an emergency in February, and produced water that was not contaminated.

Olsen’s concern is that the increased pressure on water tables in the mining district east of Leadville is creating flows that are leaching heavy metals from the Apache tailings piles in California Gulch into the Arkansas River. While the piles are “capped” - covered in non-toxic fill material - water flowing at the base of the piles is leaching out zinc and cadmium.

The water tables are so high that water is flowing from the Gaw Shaft under artesian pressure, but taking more water from it could reduce the amount of contaminated water flowing in California Gulch. “The Gaw has been forgotten,” Olsen said. “It has not been addressed to my satisfaction.”

Olsen also asked why the EPA has stopped providing the county with periodic reports, as it had until April.

“Do we have to file a Freedom of Information Act request?” Olsen said. “It’s like we’ve been shut off and have no tools to measure with.”

Murray said the EPA has not been able to clearly establish the impact of the Gaw Shaft on the mine pool, its primary concern, but said he would talk to his staff to see if there would be benefit of turning the pump on again. He deferred answers to other questions until he could talk to others in the EPA.

The mine pool is believed to be caused by blockage in the Leadville Tunnel, and contains between 500 million and 2 billion gallons of water. Last week, the Bureau of Reclamation released a risk analysis that said the tunnel is not a danger to human life or property.

EPA began pumping a relief well behind the blockage about halfway along the two-mile tunnel, sending the water through a pipeline to Reclamation’s treatment plant at the mouth of the tunnel. Reclamation still has to install a permanent pump and a building to house it.

Reclamation and EPA have signed an agreement - called a memorandum of agreement - on future operation of the line, basically assigning costs of operation to Reclamation after EPA spent about $5 million to put in the line.

“Can we get a copy of the MOA?” asked Commissioner Mike Hickman.

Murray and Mike Collins, area manager for Reclamation, said that should not be a problem, but first they would have to clear it with their respective agencies.

The relief well began pumping water on June 18, but so far hasn’t made a dent on the mine pool.

“All the (monitoring) wells (along the tunnel’s length) are up 2-3 feet,” said Brad Littlepage, lead operator at Reclamation’s treatment plant. He explained levels in the tunnel are seasonal, swelling during spring and summer months. “They’ll go down by November or December.”

Hickman also asked when EPA and Reclamation will begin working on long-term management issues surrounding two Superfund sites at Leadville, and whether EPA plans to respond to the risk assessment.

EPA first raised the question of risk from the tunnel late last year, and Reclamation’s study addressed only the risk to humans, not environmental consequences.

Murray said the process of getting the two agencies to work together will begin when EPA submits comments later this month.

“The Corps of Engineers is reviewing it, and we’re assessing it,” Murray said. “I can’t tell you what our comments are, because we haven’t had a chance to review the risk assessment.”

Meanwhile, the Leadville Sanitation District is coping with intrusion of groundwater into sanitary sewer lines, said Director Bob Elder.

The district normally pumps about 400,000 gallons per day, but has been pumping 750,000-900,000 gallons for the last three months. A source of groundwater flowing into manholes at the high end of the system at California Gulch has been found, Elder said.

“It’s fresh water, but it’s affecting the growth of organisms in the plant,” Elder said.

Hickman also told Murray EPA contractors are still driving trucks on the Mineral Belt Trail, a non-motorized path that circles Leadville, for access.

“Over the Fourth of July weekend, we had a couple of thousand people on the Mineral Belt Trail,” Hickman said. For the full story, please visit http://www.chieftain.com/articles/2008/07/09/news/region/doc48746688e5a6519...