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Tuesday, October 21, 2008
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From the Denver Post: "It has been 24 years since the federal government designated the [Cotter Mill] a Superfund cleanup site, based on radioactive contamination of air and groundwater drifting away from the 2,600-acre site just south of the city. Today the cleanup is less than half complete. A new plume of uranium-contaminated groundwater is spreading unchecked from the mill under a golf course toward Cañon City (population 15,850) and the Arkansas River, state documents and Cotter mill operators confirmed...
"State officials in July issued a 'notice of violation' giving Cotter 60 days to come up with a remedy. In a separate federal court case this year, Cotter pleaded guilty and was fined $15,000 for its role in the poisoning deaths of more than 40 migratory geese and ducks that came into contact with toxic materials at the mill. At the site this month, Hamrick surveyed reddish yellow-streaked ponds atop radioactive tailings. [John Hamrick, vice president of milling for Lakewood-based Cotter] and his crew of 30 cleanup workers are hunting for the source of the spreading pollution, he said."
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Climate Change News
6:43:22 AM 
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From U.S. Water News Online: "Minnesota and eight other states have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over what they say is an illegal ruling that could hurt fisheries and contaminate drinking water. The lawsuit targets an EPA water transfer rule published June 9 that exempts the discharge of pollutants contained in 'transfer waters' from permitting requirements, the attorneys general said. The states contend the rule creates a loophole that could allow the transfer of polluted or contaminated water from one water body to another where it would do harm. Examples of water transfers include an oceangoing ship dumping salt water into the Great Lakes or a lake's water being drained into a river. Water transfers routinely occur throughout the country for irrigation projects, city drinking water, dams and ecological restoration."
Category: Colorado Water
6:32:19 AM
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Here's an update on Colorado Springs' proposed Southern Delivery System and its impacts on Pueblo West, from the Pueblo Chieftain. From the article:
Two meetings in the next week will look at the specific impacts of the proposed Southern Delivery System on Pueblo West. The meetings are from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Thursday and Monday at VFW Post 5812, 127 E. Spaulding. Each will include an open house for the first hour, followed by a presentation and the opportunity to discuss the project.
While Pueblo West is a participant in the project, the route of the pipeline could affect numerous properties, roads and watersheds along its course. In the $1.1 billion SDS project, Colorado Springs, along with partners Security, Fountain and Pueblo West, proposes to build a pipeline north from Pueblo Dam to serve water needs of the communities through 2046. A list of all landowners on the proposed route appears in Appendix H of the 1041 permit application, which is posted on the Pueblo County Web site. Pueblo West also would be able to tap into the SDS pipeline in order to supply up to 18 million gallons of water per day, a move which is needed for the ultimate supply needs of the community, according to Pueblo West Metro District Manager Don Saling. "Right now we can get 12 million gallons a day through the joint use manifold. We need the additional capacity to reach the capacity of 30 million gallons a day needed at build-out," Saling said. "Our alternative is to take it from the river, and that will require more treatment. It becomes a water quality issue."
In conversations with Pueblo West staff, however, Colorado Springs has indicated it would closely follow the present route of the Fountain Valley Conduit through Pueblo West. During construction of the pipeline, there is a corridor of 100 feet on either side that likely would be disrupted. Ultimately, the pipeline would be buried and the area over it returned to existing conditions as much as possible, engineers for Colorado Springs said at an open house at Lake Pueblo last week. The Pueblo West meetings are part of a series being sponsored by the SDS partners at the request of Pueblo County, which is reviewing the application as part of its land use regulations adopted under 1974's HB1041. The legislation allows counties and cities to regulate projects of statewide interest.
[In addition] on Oct. 30, the SDS partners will host an open house and discussion on SDS impacts related to Fountain Creek. That meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at the El Pueblo History Museum, 301 N. Union. The Bureau of Reclamation will host a public meeting from 6 to 9 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Pueblo Convention Center, 320 Central Main, to discuss a supplemental information report to the draft environmental impact statement for SDS, now under review.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:20:01 AM
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Here's an analysis of the effects of Amendment 52, from the Grand Junction Free Press. From the article:
Sen. Josh Penry of Grand Junction and Rep. Frank McNulty of Highlands Ranch and Rep. Cory Gardner of Yuma penned Amendment 52, which would use severance tax money to help fund transportation projects in the state. The taxes are charged to energy companies for extracting nonrenewable resources from state land. Clogged tunnels, congestion on Interstate 70, and crumbling highways in a year where an economic downturn could scoop money out of transportation make the timing for the amendment especially pertinent, according to Penry. "Transportation money is the last dollar in so it's the first dollar out -- transportation could be totally wiped out," Penry said.
Severance tax dollars are currently split between local and state uses -- the department of local affairs and the department of natural resources. Penry said he wanted to keep funding the same for local communities that are dealing with costs from energy industry work, including transportation costs, so he and McNulty and Gardner decided to cap DNR funding at 2007-2008 levels, adjusting the department's budget for inflation, and use the remainder for transportation. This way, there's new funding -- an estimated $225 million in the first four years alone -- without new taxes, Gardner said...
Opponents of the amendment worry the cap could hurt DNR programs. Water projects, such as work on dams, pipelines and canals, are expected to take up two-thirds of next year's DNR budget. The rest of the money will be spent on wildlife conservation, mining industry regulation programs, low-income energy assistance and other programs. Jim Lochhead, an attorney and the former director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, said at a Sept. 5 Club 20 debate on the issue, "You're hurting one thing to help another."[...]
Department of Natural Resources Communication Director Mike King said in July the department was concerned about funding water projects when essentially stuck at 2007-2008 funding, which he said was not one of the better years for severance tax revenue. "This would set DNR funding at a level that is severely depressed," King said. Penry pointed out the DNR has gone from $8 million to $89 million in funding over the past few years. "If that's a cut, I hate to see what a funding increase looks like," Penry said. McNulty said he worries if the amendment doesn't pass that Gov. Bill Ritter will block any legislative attempts in the 2009 session to pass a bill with similar provisions as those outlined in the amendment.
More Coyote Gulch coverage here.
Category: Colorado Water
6:12:04 AM
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The EPA has announced the 2008 recipients of their Clean Water Act Recognition Awards. From their website:
The Clean Water Act Recognition Awards program is sponsored by EPA's Office of Wastewater Management. The awards recognize municipalities and industries, including Tribal Nations and U.S. military commands for demonstrating outstanding technological achievements or an innovative process, method or device in their waste treatment and pollution abatement programs. The program is intended educate the public about the contributions that publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities make to clean water and to recognize communities that go far beyond the minimum needed to meet Clean Water Act requirements.
The Awards are presented during the Water Environment Federation's annual Technical Exposition and Conference (WEFTEC). Awards are presented for outstanding operations and maintenance (O&M) at publicly-owned wastewater treatment facilities, exemplary biosolids management, pretreatment program excellence, stormwater management excellence, and combined sewer overflow (CSO) control program excellence. An inscribed plaque will be presented to first and second place national winners.
Colorado winners include: Keep It Clean Partnership - City of Boulder, Town of Erie, City of Longmont, City of Louisville, Town of Superior and Boulder County, won second place in the Stormwater Management Awards Category. Congratulations to all involved.
Thanks to the Water Secrets Blog for the link.
Meanwhile there is a push on to enact stormwater management systems nationwide from American Rivers and Midwest Environmental Advocates, according to The Capitol Times. They write:
Stormwater is to blame for fouling rivers and streams in America, thanks to oily, dirty runoff from hard surfaces such as parking lots and rooftops, according to a report released Thursday by two environmental groups. Since runoff is a local problem, the two groups, American Rivers and Midwest Environmental Advocates, are encouraging local governments to be vigilant and enact zoning ordinances and comprehensive plans to reduce the impact of dirty stormwater on our nations waterways. "Polluted stormwater is a huge problem nationally, degrading America's rivers and streams," said Gary Belan, American Rivers clean water program director. "It's a problem that can be solved at the local level by citizens and community leaders."
Category: Colorado Water
5:58:07 AM
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© Copyright
2008
John Orr.
Last update:
11/1/08; 8:09:34 PM.
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