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III IIIllllllllll III <br />999 <br />Ra~s~ier worried about BMG's water <br />QOLLIlTED GROl1NDWATER ALSO THREATENS SAN L111S <br />By Robert Kino Green <br />Polluted groundwater from the <br />closed Battle Mountain Gold mine <br />may be nearer to San Luis than any- <br />one wanLS to believe. <br />Sandy and Judy Cooper, owners <br />of dte i?00 acre Shalom Ranch, are <br />worried that contaminated water has <br />already rczciud one of then wells a <br />m[le downstream from the closed <br />mine site. The ranch, whzre they <br />m[sc several hundred head of regis- <br />tcrcd comicn[e cattle, i5 immediately <br />adjacent to BMG property and <br />extends south to the San Luis town <br />limiB. <br />Last summer one of the ranch's <br />two center pivot wells lost half iu <br />production-down from 800 to 400 <br />gallons a minute. Investigation by a <br />Coopers rely hzavily upon the alfalfa <br />grown on that circle for livestock <br />feed, and a loss of crop production <br />threuens the optmrian, they sail. <br />In a leer to state and federal <br />authorities sent earlier this month, <br />Shalom attorney Doug George wrote, <br />"Mr. Cooper is reasonably concerned <br />that this unusual and heavv cortosion <br />has resulted from a contaminant orig- <br />Inating from the Battle iblaunlain <br />Gold propert}~" <br />While neither the state Water <br />Quality Control Division nor [he <br />Environmental Protection agency has <br />yet determined the wusC of the <br />Shalom Ranch well problem, recent <br />communications -between lIIJaC <br />agencies bout Focused on potential <br />impacLS of mine contamination to the <br />town of $an Luis drinking supply. <br />contaminants to the Rito Scco <br />drainage occurred." <br />"~he Division of Minerals and <br />Get logy (DMG), the state agency <br />that has overszcn the long history of <br />protdzms at the mine, comes up with <br />a mach differem "best guess' as to <br />how long the town will has be Core it <br />is polluted. H. Bruce Humphries. <br />iblin:mis Program Supervisor. wrote <br />that any contammam plums ilowin, <br />row: rd the town "mi_iu. thcarclical- <br />ly. t: kz 19i years to reach the warer <br />supph~ well.° <br />S mdy Cooper is worrieJ that both <br />estin ores may be off considerably <br />and that contaminated water has <br />alrea 1y reached his pivot. <br />"I just warn them to Its the well <br />and Lx the wamr. That's all I~m ask- <br />ing," he said. "Thzrc wasdt a prob- <br />lem oefore they camz. and there's <br />probem now. Thz Bold mine should <br />live up ro its promiso nor to conum- <br />inate :he area's water supply." <br />Ci oper said he is also conctmed <br />that 6iYIG'S stock is down and that <br />the ccmpany may soon not bu linan- <br />clally solvent to live up w its promis- <br />eS. <br />r^~ ` <br />r ~, <br />.Y ~ <br />} ~ -i <br />•~ <br />r_/ ~ a. <br />- - k~ <br />-. r y._ <br />`.,r. - <br />BMG tailings pond dam is visible from Shalom Rancfi gate. <br />well expert found Corrosion on the <br />well's corral pans clogging 90 per- <br />crnt of the pipe perComtmns, Cooper <br />smd. A piping system, used [o vacu- <br />um out the well, also rusted in about <br />two weeks and developed white <br />deposits. <br />The pivot requires a total of 300 <br />gallons a minute to function. The <br />Rich Muz1 oC the Denver EP.4 <br />ofF<e informed the store last month <br />that the time it would take this water <br />to travel the ?.3 milts from the mine <br />to the neacest town welt is about l~ <br />years, "based on conscrvanvc <br />assumptions Fot aquifer properties." <br />However, he continued, "the time <br />frame could be reduced if a release oC <br />Sandy Cooper <br />