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<br />The USBR has not taken into account the hazards of building <br />the pumping plant facility near the tailings pile. EPI <br />suggests a thorough investigation of the problem. According <br />to an article in the Durango Herald in March of this year <br />the manager for the project to remove the tailings pile for <br />the Department of Energy indicated that "once the tailings <br />are removed, more soluble elements such as arsenic, zinc <br />and cadmium will be flushed out of the alluvial groundwater. <br />contaminants also have made their way into deeper <br />groundwater...will take from 40 to 140 years to clear out <br />once the tailings are removed." <br /> <br />Heavy Metals <br /> <br />The headwaters of the Animas River occur north of the town <br />of Silverton, once a heavy mining area. As a result the EIS <br />had this to say: <br /> <br />Heavy metal pollution is a water quality problem only <br />in the Animas River. High concentrations of iron, <br />manganese, copper, lead, zinc, silver, cadmium, <br />mercury and arsenic along with acid water cause the <br />river to be nearly devoid of fish and aquatic insects <br />and unusable for domestic and agricultural purposes. <br /> <br />Aeration caused by the streams continual turbulent <br />action and high quality inflow from tributaries act <br />to improve the river's overall quality as the river <br />reaches Durango. <br /> <br />Manganese concentrations in the water could become <br />a concern for user, since conventional <br />sedimentation-filtration water treatment facilities <br />do not adequately remove dissolved concentrations of <br />manganese. <br /> <br />Concentrations of several heavy metals in the Animas <br />River periodically exceed drinking water standard. <br /> <br />The Definite Plan Report indicates that the headwaters of <br />the Animas River are essentially a dead stream as a result <br />of heavy metals from mining activities. Furthermore, the <br />principle tributaries of the Animas River in the project <br />area are Junction Creek, Lightner Creek, Basin creek, <br />Cascade Creek, Hermosa Creek and the Florida River. Except <br />for the Florida River which has its flows regulated by Lemon <br />Dam, the tributaries often go dry in late summer according <br />to project documents. <br /> <br />The La Plata and Mancos rivers also piCk up some beavy <br />metals, primarily zinc, silver, cadmium, cyanide and <br />mercury. <br /> <br />,. <br />f{ <br />~ <br /> <br />.:1 <br /> <br />.j <br /> <br />l"-I <br /> <br />',~; , <br /> <br />31 <br />