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<br />L<B>and<IB> <B>l11ine</B>
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<br />gotten the message: The legi$lature would not tolerate interference with
<br />mining, Baldridge said,
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<br />Several workers took jobs in the private sector, including Baldridge,
<br />Eventually, she ended up at tile company Galactic hired to draft a cleanup
<br />plan for Summitville,
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<br />By that time it was too late,
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<br />Acid spills into area's creeks
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<br />Behind the dike, the water wa$ rising, In addition to the polluted water being
<br />pumped back, spring snowmelt rushed into the pool from nearby Cropsy
<br />Peak,
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<br />Water was sprayed on roads <1nd fields to make it evaporate,
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<br />"Somebody came up with the Idea that you could make snow up there,"
<br />recalled Wyman, the Galactic executive, 'We made snow as many months
<br />of the year as we could because snow does not all melt .., in the sunshine,
<br />Some of it evaporates,"
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<br />As alarming as the rising water was the acid in it.
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<br />When water flows over the newly exposed faces of fractured rock, it tums
<br />acidic, The acid dissolves minerals in the rocks, such as copper and
<br />cadmium,
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<br />The acidic, mineralized water Kills aquatic life,
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<br />As in many western states, the rocks in Colorado's mountains are highly
<br />acid-forming,
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<br />Galactic's huge mining equipment was ripping the face off South Mountain,
<br />creating an enormous, acidcgenerating scar. Nearby, a new mountain of
<br />acid-generating waste rock waS rising,
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<br />Even the roads, carved from the hillsides to bring ore to the cyanide
<br />leaching area, produced acid,
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<br />And then it got worse,
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<br />At some point, the company's giant diggers tore through to the abandoned
<br />19th century mines, A deluge of acidic water from the Galactic pit inundated
<br />the old mines, then flowed into area creeks through the system that drained
<br />the abandoned pits,
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<br />Cyanide evaporates quickly, e$pecially on sunny summer days, But acid
<br />lasts indefinitely, And more of it is produced every time rain or melting snow
<br />flows over acid-generating rocK,
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<br />In 1989, the company opened iii water treatment plant in an effort to legally
<br />dump the water building up bel1ind the dike, But the plant never worked
<br />properly, and the company spent its few remaining years quarreling with the
<br />state's Water Quality Control Division, which refused to allow water to be
<br />discharged,
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<br />Meanwhile. the acid was entering the Alamosa River, And poisoning the
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<br />http://www.denver-mI11.comlnews/0507smmtl.shtrnl
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<br />5/7/00
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