Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Southern Delivery System From The Pueblo Chieftain: "A final count shows that more than 375 comments were received by the Bureau of Reclamation on its draft environmental impact statement for the Southern Delivery System. Despite the large volume of comments, collected after the initial 60-day comment period was extended 45 days, the bureau is on its original timetable of finishing the EIS by the end of this year and issuing a record of decision early next year, said Kara Lamb, public affairs officer for Reclamation, Tuesday...Many of the comments contain multiple issues, which Reclamation plans to group and reply to. Reclamation's approval is needed in order for federal contracts to be awarded. Contract negotiations would most likely begin after the final EIS is issued and would be open to the public. There would also be a public comment period when the final EIS is released." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 6:24:32 PM

? for President? Political Wire: "A new Quinnipiac poll in Connecticut finds Sen. Barack Obama leading Sen. John McCain by 21 points, 56% to 35%." Political Wire: "A new Public Policy Polling survey in Florida finds Sen. Barack Obama narrowly leading Sen. John McCain, 46% to 44%, on the basis of greater support among Hispanics." "2008 pres" 6:23:52 PM

Hispanic voters and 2008 The Moderate Voice: "During the primaries a strong argument used against Democratic Senator Barack Obama was that he received tepid support from Hispanic voters and therefore could not be counted on to get that crucial part of the party's constituency come November. But that argument is no more: a new Gallup Poll shows Hispanic voters strongly support the Democratic party's presumptive nominee." "2008 pres" 6:21:52 PM

Energy policy: Nuclear Here's an update on uranium mining in Colorado, from The Denver Post. From the article: In 12 Western states, the number of uranium mining claims has doubled since 2003 to 414,228, according to an analysis of federal data by the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group. In Colorado, uranium-mining claims filed on federal land have gone from 120 in 2003 to almost 11,000 last year, according to the federal Bureau of Land Management. "We are surely in a boom," said Ronald Cattany, director of the state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. A more telling measure - for the claims are often speculative - is exploration permits from the state and the BLM. State permits doubled over the past year to 90, Cattany said, and in the past six months, the number of federal exploration permits jumped almost 50 percent to 67... The state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety is now setting draft rules to meet the two uranium-mining laws. One law requires more public disclosure of uranium prospecting. Until now, mining-company information filed with the state, such as size and general location, was confidential. The second law tightens controls on in-situ uranium mining. It will require companies to do baseline water-quality studies and restore the aquifer to that level or one set by the state Department of Public Health and Environment. A new fee structure also was set up so that the state can hire consultants to review in-situ mining plans. "These applications and technologies are so nontraditional and complex, we wanted to make sure they are thoroughly reviewed," said Cattany. Colorado's rules will set "a standard of restoration that is higher than historical restoration," said Richard Clement Jr., Powertech's chief executive. "Hopefully, the rules will relieve some of the concerns people have had," Clement said... More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "2008 pres" 6:20:27 PM

California Gulch: ASARCO and Newmont Colorado has announced a settlement with ASARCO and Resurrection/Newmont USA Ltd over pollution from the California Gulch Superfund site, according to The Rocky Mountain News. From the article: Under terms of a consent decree to be filed in U.S. District Court, ASARCO will pay $10 million and Resurrection/Newmont USA Ltd. will pay $10.5 million in "natural resource damages" to make up for the environmental harm in the mining district. The damages are associated with the California Gulch Superfund site, an 18-square mile region that includes Leadville and headwaters of the Arkansas River. The region has been mined for gold, silver, lead, zinc and copper since 1859... The California Gulch agreement is distinct from a long-running Superfund cleanup of the site, dating to 1983, that has seen the federal government and private companies spend tens of millions of dollars to divert pollutants from the Arkansas River, among other projects. "Today marks the close of an important chapter in our fight to protect and restore Colorado's environment," said Attorney General John Suthers. "I am very pleased that we have been able to recover more than $55 million in the past few weeks to ensure that our state's greatest resource is maintained."[...] In this case, the money will likely be used to improve fish habitat along an 11-mile stretch of the Arkansas River, purchase open space as well as finish cleanup of the Black Cloud Mine. Work on the projects is expected to begin next summer. Jeff Deckler, a top Superfund cleanup official at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said some of the money could be spent on projects just outside of the Superfund site but still affected by mining. "You don't want to spend natural resource damage money on stuff that should have been part of the cleanup," Deckler said... Aside from cleanup money already spent [~] which the private companies are not obligated to reveal [~] and the $20.5 million natural resource damage settlement, Resurrection/Newmont will spend an estimated $118 million operating a water treatment at the Yak Tunnel in perpetuity. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. "colorado water" 6:03:47 PM

SB 08-221, Bonds Forest Health Watershed Projects From The Vail Daily:: "Front Range water consumers could help pay for removing trees infected by pine beetles in Eagle County, according to recent legislation. Senate Bill 221 lets the Colorado Water Resources and Power Development Authority loan money to water providers, which would pay to remove trees devastated by beetles in Eagle and Summit counties and other places, said Democratic state Sen. Dan Gibbs, of Silverthorne... The bill lets the Colorado water authority issue bonds to finance the loans, Gibbs said. The money to pay back the loans could come from higher water bills in Denver, Colorado Springs and other places, he said. Denver residents get some water from Lake Dillon, for example, so Denver Water could pay to remove infected trees and to plant new ones to protect their water supply, Gibbs said. If a forest fire occurs, exacerbated by infected trees, water supplies could be tainted because dirt will spill into rivers and lakes at a greater rate, Gibbs said. Gibbs points out that a significant amount of dirt was dumped into Colorado water supplies after the Hayman Fire, which burned almost 138,000 acres southwest of Denver in 2002. "It's still costing Denver Water millions of dollars," he said." More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 5:54:26 PM

Dedication of fish ladder at Price-Stubb dam Here's a recap of the dedication of the new fish ladder near the Price-Stubb diversion dam on the Colorado River, from The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel. From the article: The 20-year old Recovery Program passed a milestone Monday with the dedication of the Price-Stubb Diversion Dam fish passage. This allows fish to move past the last major obstacle in 290 miles of Colorado River native fish habitat from Hite, Utah, on Lake Powell to Rifle. While fish recovery is something measured in years, Kantola and other researchers expect the long reach of available habitat to have a positive impact on endangered fish populations. Researchers monitor those fish when they pass through the fish ladder at the Grand Valley Project Diversion Dam. "The great thing is that upstream of the diversion there is more water present and more habitat," Kantola said. Of the four endangered fish the humpback chub is doing best, if raw numbers are the only score. There are an estimated 3,000 adult humpback chubs in the Black Rocks section of Westwater Canyon on the Colorado River and another 1,000 or so humpbacks in the Desolation/Gray Canyon stretch of the Green River. Other smaller populations occur in the Yampa River and in the torrents of Cataract Canyon on the Colorado River. It's the only one of the four species not being raised in hatcheries and stocked to augment natural populations. Since 1996, about 162,300 subadult (less than 1-year-old) razorback suckers, 295,200 subadult bonytail chubs and 8,000 subadult Colorado pikeminnows have been stocked in the upper Colorado River system. Extensive stocking also has occurred in the San Juan River. Razorback suckers are being hatchery raised and stocked in the San Juan, Colorado, Gunnison and middle and lower Green rivers. Recently, researchers have found these stocked razorbacks moving back and forth between the Colorado, Gunnison and Green rivers, forming a network of subpopulations, another positive sign for recovery. Also, the capture of tiny razorback suckers indicate the fish are spawning and reproducing in the wild. The population of Colorado pikeminnow in the Colorado River has nearly doubled from 450 to 870, according to 2005 figures from the Fish and Wildlife Service. However, pikeminnow numbers in the Green River declined by almost one-third, to 2,300, between 2001 and 2003, possibly due to the drought. "We had a real strong year class in 2006, so we might see some improvements in those numbers," Kantola said. Population estimates are done every three years, so the next survey will be this year. The number of Colorado pikeminnows using the Redlands Diversion Dam fish ladder has grown to 102, an indication that the abundance of wild adults is increasing, Kantola said. Biologists are relying heavily on stocking programs to restore populations of bonytail chubs, once on the verge of extinction. Recently, the stocking program expanded into floodplain wetlands that provide vital nursery areas for young fish. More coverage from The Grand Junction Daily Sentinel: The completion of the $12.1 million diversion, a 900-foot rock channel that bypasses an 8-foot-high concrete dam that formerly diverted water into the Price-Stubb ditch, removes the last obstacle in the upstream passage for native fish in a 290-mile span of the Colorado River from Lake Powell to Rifle. It also marks the end of 16 years of local construction projects in the Upper Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program. The span of projects, which began in 1992 with the Grand Valley Endangered Fish Facility at Horsethief Canyon State Wildlife Area, is "an outstanding achievement in conservation," said Lynn Scarlett, deputy secretary for the U.S. Department of Interior. Speaking to a crowd of about 100 people, Scarlett praised the many partnerships that were forged during the early and sometimes contentious years of the recovery program. She said the project confirms "endangered species conservation and water development and management can coexist."[...] The Grand Valley projects, which include four fish passages, three fish screens, a native fish hatchery on 24 Road, irrigation canal check structures, and a fish-barrier net at Highline Lake that prevents nonnative fish from escaping into the Colorado River, cost an estimated $50.4 million, most of that from the Bureau of Reclamation. The Colorado River Endangered Fish Recovery Program has spent almost $186.9 million since 1998, with nearly three-fourths coming from power revenues and the Bureau of Reclamation. More Coyote Gulch coverage here. "colorado water" 5:52:53 PM

Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel update: Reclamation Risk Assessment As we reported on Monday and yesterday, Reclamation has released their Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel Risk Assessment [pdf]. They've pretty much thrown the EPA under the bus. A letter dated last November, from the EPA, was the basis for a local disaster declaration from the Lake County Commissioners. The Reclamation risk assessment concludes that the situation described in the EPA letter, including the potential for "loss of life," is incorrect. Further, Reclamation concludes that the early warning system in place is adequate to protect the residents downstream from the LMDT portal at the Village at East Fork and Reclamation personnel at their treatment plant. Based on the findings in the report Reclamation is going to install water pressure monitoring instruments in their monitoring wells below the blockage in the LMDT near the Pendry fault and connect the sensors to the early warning system. They also plan to update their emergency action plan for the LMDT, after consulting with local, state and federal officials. They informed the residents that were in attendance at the meeting yesterday they will also exercise the new plan to make sure it is workable in an emergency situation. We didn't find any EPA representatives at the afternoon meeting in Leadville. It would have been nice to have been able to ask them about their reaction to the risk assessment. Reclamation used internal staff and consultants to brainstorm the problem and perform the analysis. The personnel included geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists and civil engineers. The report was then peer reviewed by an independent group with similar backgrounds. The report was peer reviewed a final time by experts not affiliated with Reclamation. After all the bad press it was clear that Reclamation did not want the report to appear to be a rubber stamp of their position prior to the disaster declaration. They very much wanted to show that they took the possibility of loss of life and property seriously. Reclamation also moved one of their dam safety experts (Bob Pike) on site in March to supervise the site until the relief well came online. Much more is known about the lower blockage near the portal. Mike Wiltshire said of the blockage near the Pendry fault that, "We haven't seen it, haven't touched it." They estimate its length at between 80 and 200 feet and used the lower measurement to calculate its potential to hold back the mine pool water. The risk assessment centered around 7 potential failure modes that Reclamation indentified. From the presentation, "The team evaluated the likelihood of each of the potential failure modes and the consequences of those failure modes," and, "Each potential failure mode was categorized according to its likelihood and the consequences should it develop." Here's the list: PFM #1 -Breach in upstream tunnel blockage results in "blowout" of downstream bulkheads PFM #2 -Breach in upstream tunnel blockage results in rapid erosion breach of downstream slope materials PFM #3 -Breach in upstream tunnel blockage results in high downstream groundwater levels and slope instability PFM #4 -Breach in upstream tunnel blockage results in leakage of contaminated water into downstream areas PFM #5 -Earthquake triggers slope instability near tunnel portal PFM #6 -Seepage erosion into tunnel causes sinkholes and loss of the highway PFM #7 -Flow at Tunnel Portal Plugs Off, Raising Groundwater and Causing Slope Instability These were considered possible, knowing what they know about the condition of the tunnel the geology of the area. Reclamation engineers then evaluated the likelihood of each potential failure mode and summarized the risk in a chart. The analysis ruled out PFM #5, #6 and #7. PFMs #1, #2 and #3 were rated as low likelihood but with a level 2 consequence, that is, potential for property damage. PFM #4 has a moderate likelihood but only a level 1 consequence -- no property damage or threat to human life. Reclamation personnel repeatedly reminded attendees that they used conservative engineering assumptions in all ratings as they do with their dams. The analysis they used was based on the system they use to rate dam risk. Dick Wiltshire, a former Reclamation employee, was the point person for the report and presented the findings to the group. He focused on the potential for a blowout in the tunnel. His opinion is that a blowout is virtually impossible since the tunnel and rock above the lower bulkhead is saturated and would cushion any sudden release by the upper blockage near the Pendry fault. There would be a rise in pressure but Wiltshire is confident that the lower bulkhead would hold. According to Great Plains Regional Director, Mike Ryan, Reclamation is not waiting on the final report to move on the recommendations. He also told attendees that there is a comment period for the final draft of the report open until the end of July. Readers familiar with permitting requirements for the control of runoff from construction will get a kick out of the mess the EPA contractor has made in installing the pipeline from the relief well above the blockage near the Pendry fault. In order to keep the pipeline on a downhill track to the treatment plant the EPA had to move tons of dirt and make a huge cut, all for a 12" pipeline. They released water from well testing untreated into Little Evans Gulch. We didn't see any erosion control anywhere on site. Brad Littlepage from Reclamation told us that as of last week the EPA had spent $4 million drilling the well and building the pipeline. We're interested in seeing the final bill when they reclaim the area around the pipeline construction. More Coyote Gulch coverage here and here. "colorado water" 6:47:09 AM

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