Good Samaritans could be answer to old mines

By ROBERT E. ROBERTS

Something big happened in Washington, D.C., this week - something with the potential to move the earth - actually to move contaminated dirt and rock, and a lot of it, in communities throughout the Rocky Mountain West.

You may not have noticed, but on Wednesday the Environmental Protection Agency released a “Model Good Samaritan Agreement” for its regional offices to use to encourage volunteer efforts to clean up contaminated mine sites. This action is a long-awaited policy tool that will help accelerate the pace of environmental progress in watersheds across the West.

There are an estimated 500,000 abandoned mines nationwide, mostly hardrock sites, and most in Western states. These sites - piles of crushed rock and barren areas tinted with telltale shades of orange, yellow and red - litter the mountainsides in historic mining districts. They often contain harmful metals such as lead, arsenic, cadmium or zinc. When it rains, and when snow melts, the acid runoff they produce can render local rivers and streams lifeless.

EPA and its partners have worked on this problem for decades, and we have been able to clean up many of the biggest and worst mine sites by making the companies responsible for pollution pay for cleanup actions. But for most of these sites - called “orphan sites” - the company that operated the mine is long gone. There is no responsible party to fund the cleanup.

An unintended consequence of the Superfund law is that volunteers who want to clean up such sites face the possibility of taking on responsibility for all the past and future pollution. These Good Samaritans have nothing to do with the pollution that has already occurred or will occur. And they certainly have no interest in contributing to further pollution. But the size of the potential liability they may take on by working on the site makes most of them unwilling to take on such projects.

EPA's release of the Model Good Samaritan Agreement is a big step toward eliminating that obstacle. This tool will allow Good Samaritans who want to work on orphan mines to enter into agreements with EPA that minimize the Superfund law liability concerns. Beneficial cleanup projects, many with blueprints that have been sitting on shelves for years, now have the green light to proceed.

As one watershed group leader from Colorado exclaimed upon hearing the news, “It feels like someone has taken my handcuffs off.”

President Bush and the EPA are clearing legal roadblocks to help protect America's watersheds. While additional obstacles for Good Samaritans remain, legislation that will provide further relief for mine cleanup projects is now pending in Congress. Our continued progress on this issue is good news for everyone who cares about clean water.

Robert E. Roberts is regional administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 8, which includes Montana.

70% of Roan to drillers

The ruling allows immediate drilling on the Western Slope plateau for a likely mother lode of natural gas. Foes consider lawsuits.

By Nancy Lofholm Denver Post Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: 06/09/2007 12:25:16 AM MDT

From the halls of Congress to living rooms in Garfield County, criticism is being heaped on the Bureau of Land Management for its decision to allow immediate drilling on nearly 70 percent of the Roan Plateau.

The controversial plan, announced Friday after a more than seven-year battle, places restrictions on drilling and puts some areas of the plateau along Interstate 70 west of Rifle off-limits. But critics charge the decision was made without proper comment and ignores requests from Gov. Bill Ritter's office and some of Colorado's congressional delegation to hold off on drilling.

"BLM's decision contradicts years of public involvement and should not stand," said Duke Cox of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, one of the groups considering a lawsuit to block implementation of the decision.

The decision pertains to more than 50,000 acres of the 73,602 acres included in the Roan planning area. The other 21,000 acres are being set aside for two more months of public comment.

The plan allows only 350 acres of the plateau to be drilled at one time. Drilling will take place in stages and will be done directionally to minimize surface disturbance.

Evan Dreyer, a spokesman for Ritter, expressed strong disappointment that the BLM issued the decision without giving the governor time for review as he had requested last week.

"This is one of the most important public-policy questions facing the state of Colorado right now. There was no imminent crisis. There was no reason for the BLM to rush a decision on this," Dreyer said.

"We are now reviewing all of our options."

Sen. Ken Salazar, who had joined Ritter in asking for a four-month review of the Roan Plateau Management Resource Plan, said he will look at options to stop the imminent drilling.

"The BLM has failed to establish a pressing need for such a rushed process and immediate development," Salazar said.

The Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, the only group publicly applauding the decision Friday, issued a statement saying the plan provides "limited and balanced energy development" of what the group considers probably the richest unleased reserve of natural gas in the Lower 48 states, holding enough natural gas to heat 4 million homes for up to 20 years.

The Roan has been a flash point in oil and gas development in the Piceance Basin because the plateau soars to 9,000 feet in places and is home to rare fish and plant species. It is one of the few nearly untouched places in an area dotted with 20,000 gas wells. The Roan has long been used for hunting and recreation. Some drilling has taken place on private land on the plateau.

The plan approved Friday was crafted nearly a year ago after more than five years of public-comment gathering. Of the 75,000 comments submitted, 98 percent opposed drilling on the top of the plateau.

None of the plans the public reviewed were chosen.

Instead, a group of cooperating agencies, including the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, issued a plan in 2006.

The public did not have a chance to comment on that plan.

In releasing the record of the decision Friday, the BLM called the plan "the result of a highly collaborative public-planning process."

BLM opening Roan Plateau to drilling

By Nancy LofholmDenver Post Staff Writer

Article Last Updated: 06/08/2007 02:43:52 PM MDT

var requestedWidth = 0;

if(requestedWidth > 0){ document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.width = requestedWidth + "px"; document.getElementById('articleViewerGroup').style.margin = "0px 0px 10px 10px"; } The Bureau of Land Management will open up the Western Slope's Roan Plateau to gas drilling under a decision released today.

Drilling at the plateau, west of Rifle and north of Parachute, will be restricted and done in stages.

Under the decision, only 350 acres of the plateau can be disturbed at one time. No drilling will be allowed on steep slopes, and most of it will be done directionally, which causes less surface disturbance.

The BLM also said no drilling will be allowed now in 21,034 acres of critical habitat. Those acres are being set aside for more consideration.

The Record of Decision was released after several years of tussling between the Bureau of Land Management, the oil and gas industry, and environmental and conservation groups, as well as local municipalities and state and federal representatives.

There has been heavy opposition to drilling on top of the plateau, which holds some critical habitat and unique fish and plant species.

Environmental coalition honors water activist

http://www.aspendailynews.com/archive_20037

Carbondale water has a friend in Ken Neubecker. The 55-year-old Carbondale resident was named Conservation Activist 2007 last week by the Colorado Environmental Coalition (CEC).

The award was presented in Denver at the group's annual Rebel with a Cause gala dinner. Three hundred people were in attendance, including Gov. Bill Ritter, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, and U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter. The eponymous Rebel with a Cause award went to Denver-based nature photographer and author John Fielder.

"Ken has been a tenacious voice for Colorado's rivers and wild places for more than 20 years," said T.J. Brown, the Front Range field director for the CEC. Neubecker was picked over 30 other nominees from the CEC's 90 member organizations.

The current vice president of Colorado Trout Unlimited, Neubecker founded the Eagle River Watershed and Trout Unlimited chapters in Eagle and Granby. Recently he has worked to protect the Roan Plateau as the environmental representative on the Colorado River Basin Round Table, a state-appointed planning group that advises state agencies on matters pertaining to the river basin. Set up by House Bill 1177 (the Colorado Water for the 21st Century act), nine such round tables exist in river basins throughout the state, operating on a total annual budget of $40 million.

"I helped draft the environmental impact statement for the oil and gas development on the Roan Plateau, along with about 75,000 other people," quipped Neubecker on Tuesday. "When the BLM turned in a management proposal that was completely different from what we expected, I wrote the protest letters."

When he's not fighting to keep Colorado waters clean, Neubecker works as a land surveyor for an engineering firm in Glenwood Springs. He holds 1870s surveyor Ferdinand Hayden as one of his mentor/heroes and even named the Roaring Fork and Eagle Valley chapter of Trout Unlimited after "that other surveyor-not (John Wesley) Powell."

"Hayden was the first to survey this entire area, between here and Yellowstone, in a scientific way at least," said Neubecker. "He was also the first to locate and document and the Mount of the Holy Cross in the Holy Cross Wilderness. Spanish conquistadors looking for gold had mentioned seeing a mountain with a crucifix shaped by couloirs, but no one knew for sure if it was a myth until Hayden."

"Ken is a thoughtful advocate for non-consumptive needs and advises the other (Colorado River Basin Round Table) councils. He informs and educates so they learn to work within the system. It's invaluable work," said Becky Long, water caucus coordinator for the CEC.

Session hailed for being "green"

A survey supports claims it was Colorado lawmakers' top pro-environment gathering ever, led by renewable energy.

“Environmental groups, including Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Sierra Club, judged lawmakers' votes on nine bills - such as renewable energy, greener building codes and protecting wildlife habitat.”

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_6078948

Environmental groups are calling the past legislative session Colorado's greenest ever - and a survey released Wednesday offered some proof.

State lawmakers, on average, voted for pro-environment bills 77 percent of the time, according to an analysis by Colorado Conservation Voters. That was up 12 percentage points from 2006.

Environmental groups, including Colorado Trout Unlimited and the Sierra Club, judged lawmakers' votes on nine bills - such as renewable energy, greener building codes and protecting wildlife habitat.

Republicans, who often fared poorly in earlier conservation rankings, had their second-highest rating in the 11-year history of the scorecard. Among Republicans in the House, votes in favor of the environmental agenda increased by 14 percentage points compared with last year.

"The story that this scorecard tells is that conservation values are not Democrat or Republican; They are Colorado values," said Carrie Doyle, executive director of Colorado Conservation Voters. "The voters spoke pretty clearly in the elections that they think Colorado should be a renewable energy leader," Doyle said. "Lawmakers got that message."

Most Democrats scored 100 percent, voting for all nine bills that made up the core of the environmental agenda. Republican legislators topped out with 80 percent or 90 percent, though a few scored the equivalent of D's and F's. Republicans' average score was 47 percent.

Rep. Rob Witwer, a Republican from Golden who scored a 90 percent, said improved Republican marks point to a return "to the principles that have always been there in our party."

"Democrats don't love the environment more than Republicans," he said. "It's a matter of what kinds of policies do you support to get there."

Republicans are more likely to favor tax incentives to encourage people to conserve - not mandates, especially ones that infringe on private property rights, Witwer said. GOP lawmakers are more cognizant of costs, said Luke Shilts, chairman of the Colorado Federation of Young Republicans, a statewide 40-and-younger group.

The hallmark of the legislative session, which ended a month ago, was renewable energy. One new law says investor-owned utilities must produce 20 percent of their energy from renewable sources by 2020. Lawmakers passed a water-quality measure that environmental groups pushed for seven years. The bill lets water courts consider water quality before deciding on large transfers. The state also has new laws to ensure more protection of wildlife habitat during oil and gas drilling and secure a spot for an environmentalist on the state oil and gas commission.

Western Slope lawmakers spearhead conservation reform

http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/content/news/stories/2007/06/07/6_7_enviro_scorecard.html

Thursday, June 07, 2007

Western Slope lawmakers helped spearhead “the most pro-conservation legislative session in our state’s history,” according to a Colorado Conservation Voters report released Wednesday.

The “2007 Conservation Scorecard,” which tracks House and Senate votes on environmental, energy, water and wildlife reforms, shows that more than half of the region’s 11 lawmakers were strong supporters of conservation values throughout the legislative session.

“I think Western Slope lawmakers have showed real leadership on conservation issues,” said Carrie Doyle, executive director of Colorado Conservation Voters. “That leadership happened for a reason: Western Slope districts were on the front lines of many of the conservation issues being debated this year.”

The report card highlights the roles Western Slope lawmakers played in pushing conservation measures, including Reps. Ellen Roberts, R-Durango, Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, Kathleen Curry, D-Gunnison, Dan Gibbs, D-Silverthorne, Al White, R-Winter Park, and Sens. Jim Isgar, D-Hesperus, and Gail Schwartz, D-Snowmass Village. Each lawmaker, according to the report, had conservation scores of 70 or more on a 100-point scale. Buescher, Curry, Gibbs and Schwartz recorded perfect scores.

The report says they played crucial roles in pushing surface-rights legislation, open-space protections, oil and gas drilling reforms, and water-quality protections this year.

“In 2007 we saw … what happens when strong policy is aligned with bold political leadership,” the report said. “We believe that 2007 marks the beginning of a new conversation about how we work together to protect what is most precious about Colorado.”

Duke Cox, president of the Grand Valley Citizens Alliance, attributed the session’s conservation credentials to the leadership of Gov. Bill Ritter in pushing energy reform as a priority and the Legislature’s willingness to work with him.

“The big difference is Bill Ritter,” Cox said. “And the Democratic Legislature weas not afraid to take on the oil and gas lobby because they knew they had the people behind them.”

Cox said the session was a victory for Colorado “grass-roots” who pushed, particularly on the Western Slope, for more energy-industry oversight.

“The government, oddly enough, listened to the will of the voters and changed things,” he said.

The report is not so glowing for every Western Slope lawmaker.

The report singles out an amendment Sen. Josh Penry, R-Fruita, offered during an April 23 debate on House Bill 1037, which directs the Public Utilities Commission to develop rules for a program promoting energy efficiency for natural gas distributors.

Penry’s amendment, which failed in a 17-18 vote, would have capped the amount of energy efficiency that the bill could achieve, according to the report.

Based on this and other floor votes, the report ranks Reps. Steve King, R-Grand Junction, and Ray Rose, R-Montrose, with scores of 50.

Penry and Sen. Jack Taylor, R-Steamboat Springs, received scores of 60, according to the report.

Penry, however, discounted the report.

“Colorado Conservation Voters are very nice people, but they are a blatantly partisan organization focused on electing Democrats, so I don’t put a lot of stock in their report,” Penry said. “I think my values on the environment are probably a lot more in line with Western Slope voters than the Colorado Conservation Voters.”

CTU 2007 Legislative Report

Attached is Jen's Final Legislative Report, as presented in the CTU ExComm meeting tonight.CTU 2007 Legislative Report

HABITAT STAMP SALES FINANCE PERPETUAL FISHING EASEMENT

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) has announced the first project funded by sales of the Colorado Habitat Stamp.  "We are pleased to announce the acquisition of a perpetual easement to a mile and half stretch of the Arkansas River in Lake County," said DOW Director Bruce McCloskey. The easement, known as the Hardeman Property, runs along both sides of the Arkansas just north of the current site of the Granite State Wildlife Area.

Previously, the Hardeman section was open to public access through a short term lease.  The availability of funds from the sale of Habitat Stamps made it possible to secure a perpetual easement to ensure public access forever.

The cost of the perpetual easement was $99,000.  Funds collected from the sale of the habitat stamp covered $89,000 and Trout Unlimited pitched in $10,000.

"The addition of the Hardeman Property to existing State Wildlife Areas along the river creates a terrific destination for anglers heading to Lake and Chaffee Counties," said Salida resident Dan Larkin, chairman of the citizen's committee that reviews Habitat Stamp projects.

"Lake County has been fully supportive of this project," said Lake County Commissioner Ken Olsen.  "I have nothing but praise to the Division of Wildlife and their efforts to ensure public access to a critical stretch of river that just keeps getting better and better," he said.

The upper Arkansas River is one of the finest brown trout fisheries in Colorado.  Throw in a wild rainbow or two, and anglers can look forward to perpetual public access to a stretch of water that is open year around.

"The Hardeman property is one of the few sections of the upper Arkansas that doesn't ice over in the winter," said Mark Cole, the president of the Collegiate Peaks Chapter of Trout Unlimited.  "TU is proud to help fund a portion of this project to keep public a very productive fishery," Cole said.

"It's gratifying to have the first parcel preserved with habitat stamp funds located along the Arkansas River," said Colorado Wildlife Commissioner Tim Glenn who lives in Chaffee County.  "The Habitat stamp program is an absolutely wonderful program.  This purchase represents an excellent opportunity for public fishing access and to preserve the wildlife related habitat along the river.  It is a huge benefit to the state of Colorado as well as Lake and Chaffee Counties," Glenn said.

The Hardeman easement is divided into two sections along both sides of the Arkansas River.  The lower section begins at the Lake-Chaffee County line and runs north for one mile.  There is a small section of private land, and then public access starts again and runs north for a third of a mile.  The public access portions are marked with green and white Division of Wildlife signs.

The Colorado Habitat Stamp concept was developed by concerned hunters, anglers and conservation organizations, and approved by the Colorado State Legislature in 2005.

Funds are raised through the sale of a $5 mandatory habitat stamp purchased by hunters and anglers for the first two licenses they purchase during each calendar year. The maximum sportsmen are required to pay is $10 a year.

People who do not buy a hunting or fishing license, but want to support efforts to preserve wildlife habitat, can purchase a Colorado Habitat stamp wherever hunting or fishing licenses are sold. 

For more information about Division of Wildlife go to: http://wildlife.state.co.us.

This Blog Site

Hey there, It has been a couple months since I set up this blog site, and it seems (to me) to be going pretty well...here are some stats...

To date - there have been 512 viewings of the site, the best day (May 29) had 48 viewings (for whatever reason).  There are currently 39 posts within the site, and I have 14 different categories that articles have been listed under.

So, you tell me - is this helpful?  Has it been informative?  Our vision was that it would be an easy way to broadcast information that may or may not have been previously available.

Use the comments box below and let me know what you think - all opinions are welcome, generous or harsh, they are all fine.  If there are gripes or complaints (that I can fix) I will be happy to consider it.

Thanks!

Sinjin

Neighboring states face irrigation well problems

“…which also included an overview of problems in other western states by Melinda Kassen, Western Water Project director for Trout Unlimited.”

http://www.greeleytrib.com/article/20070605/NEWS/106050077

June 5, 2007 ESTES PARK -- Colorado is not the only state dealing with the shutdown or curtailment of irrigation wells.

But neighboring states are addressing the problem at the state level and finding ways to mitigate present and future problems for the advantage of both surface and ground water users.

That was the emphasis Monday at the summer conference of the Groundwater Management Districts Association at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park. About 125 water users from Colorado as well as Mississippi, Texas, New Mexico, Nebraska, Kansas, Wyoming and Idaho registered for the three-day conference, which concludes today.

Monday's sessions concentrated on irrigation well shutdowns or curtailment of irrigation wells in Nebraska, New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho and Colorado, which also included an overview of problems in other western states by Melinda Kassen, Western Water Project director for Trout Unlimited.

Kassen said ground water in the 1950s was seen as a new source of water, but only recently have Western states come to the realization that ground and surface water are connected and that pumping of wells has an effect on river flows. In Colorado, only 22 percent of the state's population depends on ground water for domestic needs, but in New Mexico, 90 percent of the population depends on that source while 96 percent of Idaho's residents use ground water.

That, combined with a drought that signaled the start of the 21st century, has led to the shutdown of wells, such as those along the South Platte River last year.

"Colorado's regulatory system should have prevented that catastrophe, but it did not," Kassen said. "That was an extraordinary wake-up call."

The over-use of ground water supplies is creating problems for many states west of the Mississippi River. Kassen said one river in Arizona has lost all but two of 13 native fish species, while in northern Montana, a developer was denied a permit for a golf resort along the Gallatin River until it could come up with a water replacement plan for the wells it wanted. That led to the Montana legislature passing a new ground water measure this year.

In Nebraska, where the number of high capacity wells increased from about 6,000 in 1975, to more than 103,000 by this year, many areas are facing moratoriums, said Jim Goecke with the University of Nebraska.

"Nobody wants moratoriums," he said, but as water levels continue to decline in major aquifers, that may happen.

In southern New Mexico, along the Rio Grande, the state legislature is helping to developing surface water treatment plants for use by municipalities and industry to ensure the continued use of wells in a highly productive agricultural area, said Gary Esslinger, manager of the Elephant Butte Irrigation District of Las Cruces.

While no wells have been shut down in Nebraska, Goecke summed the problem.

"Droughts become teachable moments," he said.