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r- EPA eyes mine pollution Chemicals seeping from operation near Victor prompt inquiry BY Tom Ragan The csetle For years, residents of Vic- tor and others have accused the Cripple Creek & Victor Gold Mining Co. of polluting area s4~eams with chemicals from its massive cyanide leach pad operation. Now, it appears the U.S. En- vironmental Proteclimi Agen- cy agrees witL the residents and is asking state regulators Iv explain why the mine has repeatedly allowed chemicals to seep into sl reams in excess of legal limits since 1996. The EPA, in an Aprif 2 let- ter, asked the slate lleparh ment oC Public }lealth and En- viroronent to explain within 30 days why souze sort of en- forcement action hasn't been taken against the mine for al- legedly violating the U.S. Clean Wata' Act. Doug Benevento, director of environmental programs for the state's water quality control division, said the state plans to keep its "options open" while it explores the EYA complaint. "First we plan to sit down and talk to EPA in the next couple weeks and examine the facts:' Benevento said. The EPA allegations tnit'~ rm- [hose in a federal lawsuit filed in November by the Sier- ra Club and the Durango- based Minerals Policy Center against the mining company. lion Ewigleben, vice presi- dent and general counsel for Anglogold, one of the opera- tors oC the join[-venture min- ing company, admitted that levels of zinc and cyanide were discharged attd discov- ered in settling ponds and in the nearby Carleton tunnel, which serves as the cotnpa- ny'sdrainage. The firm reported that be- tween March 1996 and Septem- ber 1999, there were 'l2 in- stances in which levels oCcya- Sae POLLtJflON MElA04 "'~ o- a- - -,.t„, _ a ::. Rocks are loaded onto an 85~ton dump truck on the floor o1 the Cripple Creek and Victor has been aa;used of vidating the U.S. peon Water Act. Tie Gazette The mine