The Colorado Mountains are home to many
abandoned mines. Dredged streams. Left over from the rape and pillage era. Some
are leaking toxic waste. More are death traps for clueless trespassers.
Naturally, there are many “fixers”, “we need to do something”, “give us money”
folks.
Enter the EPA. At the time, the EPA had
1,000+ lawyers on staff but zero mining engineers. Didn’t stop them from “fixing”
the Gold King Mine near Silverton, CO. Instead, they contaminated the Las
Animas river, a critical water source for Colorado, Utah and Arizona. The
rivers involved end up in Lake Powell, an impoundment of the Colorado River.
This is a long technical explanation for
those who care to take the time.
And a few photos from public sources.
To date, no one from the EPA has been
held accountable. The agency itself hasn’t been held accountable. Instead, the
efforts has been to declare the entire Silverton area a Superfund site.
Silverton is home to arrogant trust fund
and parent allowance hippies. Wealthy fly in condo owners. The county went for
Shillary last election. Doubt they understand the implications of having
federal employees deciding what the property owners can and cannot do with
their own property.
Colorado’s congressional delegation? Evidently
the Democrats believe the EPA is their constituent.
Senator Mumbles weighed in with a “cover
my ass but don’t hold me personally accountable” statement.
Of course the ecofreaks blame Trump, somehow.
The local Republican Congresscritter rides the coattails of others who are doing
the heavy lifting.
So why did WSF write this particular
blog? To point out a portion of the swamp President Trump has pledged to drain.
10 comments:
The EPA is massively arrogant, generally incompetent and the combination of the two means - TRAIN WRECK. The incident on the Animus River was graphic, but is by no means isolated. I spend a few weeks in the San Juan range every single year. This year may be the first exception to that rule in a long time. Yes, the mining did rape the land, but things have found a lot of equilibrium in the past fifty years and nature has scabbed the wound. Naturally the first thing that the EPA did (metaphor) is to rip the scab off.
USFS right up there with the EPA. Lots of coal mine fires smoldering around the country. When one flared in Glenwood Springs, a contractor approached the USFS at the start. Told them he had three dozers nearby and could have the fire smothered in an hour. Was told to, "let the professionals handle it".
http://www.postindependent.com/news/coal-seam-fire-memories-still-burning-a-decade-later/
Wow, I guess they're hoping it will just go away. And yes, they NEED to be held accountable!!!
There are coal seam fires in the US that have been burning for over 1000 years.
The USFS is made up of a different sort of oaf than the EPA crusader rabbits, but the bureaucracy enables them. When mediocrity is the standard of greatness and they sub rosa eliminate any bright rising stars, the Peter Principle reigns supreme - in the USFS.
Their game plan seems to stall forever until everyone has died. Solve the problem? Not in this universe.
I could assign sole responsibility of my living in a hell hole called Illinois to the EPA. I am not going to die here, however, I can guarantee that.
Growing up in Oregon was great, and I enjoyed the great outdoors as much as the next guy: fishing, hunting, camping, boating, swimming, hiking, Oregon had it all. Then came time for me to hit the job market, and the EPA decided that the spotted owl had to be protected from logging, and they shut down the federal forest lands to all logging. At that time, mid 1970's, most everybody in Oregon had connections to the lumber industry, and unemployment of my age group, 18-26 years old, shot up to 50% by 1975. You couldn't even get a job at a McDonalds in Oregon then, and if you did, you were the eldest son of the franchise owner. Second and third sons, you're on your own.
I had to eat, so I left the state I grew up in, and in the fullness of time, never to return. Thank you, EPA.
You can include the BLM in that toxic mix. Stupid government hacks doesn't even come close to describing them...
Worked out of Seattle for 18 years and remember full well the Spotted Owl debacle. Let's not forget the Shorelines Management Act. I benefited because I owned a boat slip and no more were built for some 15 years.
Trifecta of rural government fuckery: BLM, USFS, and BLM. And that is just the Federal Government. Ask Wyoming residents about their Fish and Game.
Should have said EPA.
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