FLOOD10357

• Document ID: 123
• County: Rio Grande
• Stream Name: Alamosa River
• Basin: Rio Grande
• Sub-Basin: Alamosa - Trinchera
• Water Division: 3
• Title: Alamosa River Watershed Project Literature and Watershed Assesment, Final EPA Report
• Date: 9/30/2003
• Prepared For: Valle del Sol Community Center
• Prepared By: US Environmental Protection Agency
• Watershed Pro - Doc Type: Project Report

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Alamosa River Watershed Project
Literature and Watershed Assessment

Natural Resource Damages

2.0 Introduction

The Natural Resource Damage process is very important to the Alamosa River
Watershed since most of the restoration project performed will be funded through the
regulatory process. This process is complex, political and regulatory driven. The
Natural Resource Damage process is performed by federal and state agencies
according to strict federal requirements. This section provides an overview of the
process and how restoration projects can be conceptualized and implemented in the
watershed.

2.1 Natural Resource Damages

In January 2001 the Trustees and the United States Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) entitled The Allocation Of
Certain Settlement Processed In Connection With The Summitville Mine Superfund Site.
Under that agreement, the Trustees established two accounts to accept funds from the
Friedland Settlement. A Summitville Natural Resource Damages Trust Fund (Colorado
NRD Trust Fund) was established as a separate interest bearing custodial account
within the State Treasury. A second account entitled The Summitville Natural Resource
Restoration (Federal Restoration Account) was established by the Department of Interior
and is an interest bearing account within the Department of Interior Restoration Fund.
Based upon a natural resource damage assessment performed by the Fish and Wildlife
Service (2), the Trustees determined that $5,000,000 of the $27,000,000 obtained from
Friedland would be split equally among the state and federal accounts. The State of
Colorado and the Department of Interior are responsible for the maintenance and
management of these natural resource damage funds. The settlement funds will be
used to fund studies for the design, implementation, permitting, monitoring. and
oversight of restoration projects.

To support the claims against Robert Friedland (Summitville Consolidated Mining
Company, Inc), the US Fish and Wildlife Service assessed the natural resource
damages in the Alamosa River Watershed (2). This damage assessment addressed the
Summitville Mine Site. Wightman Fork, the Alamosa River, and Terrace Reservoir areas
in the watershed. Natural resource damage costs were not provided for this report. as
they were considered confidential by the Department of Interior (Rob Robinson- BLM).
The following summarizes the main elements of this natural resource damage
assessment:

· The Alamosa River is not naturally polluted although there are metal bearing and
acid generating rock exposed to natural weathering.
· Summitville Consolidated Mining Company, Inc (SCMCI) operations had a significant
effect on the baseline conditions of the environment

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