Memorandum Agenda Item 11e 05/15/2000

• Board Meeting Date: 5/15/2000
• Description: Agenda Item 11e May 22-23, 2000 Board Meeting Alamosa River Watershed Project
• Board Meetings - Doc Type: Meeting

L<B>and</B> <B>mine</B> Page 13 of 20
Friedland made similar remarks in a private meeting with mine regulators,
who decided not to seek closure of the mine.
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Anne Baldridge, the mine inspector assigned to Summitville, said in a
deposition that there was some sentiment to close the mine. But the leak
didn't seem great initially, and Friedland seemed willing to deal with it.
And like the Bank of America, regulators were not eager to inherit the mine.
"Quite frankly, the division did not have the resources to take over the
project and to deal with this problem," Baldridge said. "And I think there was
a concern that if the mine got shut down, the operator just might say, 'OK,
we're out of here,'and the division would be left holding the bag."
Galactic had been required to post a bond when mining began. But it was
only$1.3 million, far less than the cost of cleaning up the growing mess.
With little alternative, the board did nothing to halt mining, deciding only to
fine the company$3,600 for allowing mud to wash into the creeks.
In the months before the cyanide leaks, the mud had been the chief concern
of regulators. Hay bales had been used to try to halt mudslides from the
denuded hills.
Baldridge said the general sloppiness of the site worried her during an initial
visit the summer before construction began. Mud was everywhere, with tree
branches sticking out of the mud and topsoil on top of trees.
"There's a lot to be said for housekeeping and the way a site visually looks,
in terms of how careful an operator is going to be,"she said. "My first
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impressions ... were that this does not look like the operator is going to be
that careful."
After the winter construction, the place looked worse, Baldridge said.
Some of it was cleaned up after Galactic hired an environmental coordinator
for the site, Baldridge said.
Friedland's promise to engineer a Space Age solution to the cyanide leak
turned into talk about building a treatment plant so the polluted water could
be legally discharged.
But that plan wasn't pursued aggressively.
"We didn't have money,"said Leonard.
So workers continued to pump the polluted groundwater back into the pool
of cyanide solution.
When the pumps failed, cyanide escaped into the creeks.
At least eight spills occurred in 1987.
But by that time, the state mining division was in no position to regulate
Summitville—or anything else. In a dispute having nothing to do with
Summitville, the Colorado legislature cut all funds to the agency as of July 1,
1987.
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The money was restored later in the year, but demoralized regulators had
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