2008-07-11_REVISION - M1980244 (3)

Home Browse Search

For the first time since testing for fluoride began, Park Center has received two secondary violations, one in 2006, one in 2007 for fluoride levels. We have joined the Riverwatch Program so that we may continue specific site testing for both metals and fluoride to see if there is any connection or if gold mining has any influence on fluoride levels. In 1994, shortly after the reopening of the gold mine, Park Center's fluoride level was at 1.2 mg/l. The last two years the fluoride level has risen to 2.2 and 2.1. The secondary level for fluoride is 2.0, so the District has had to issue fluoride warnings to it's constituents for the past two years. CC&V was contacted to see if they had made any changes which would affect fluoride levels They did promptly reply with test results showing the ambient testing is high as well, although they noted that testing for fluoride was not within the parameter of their permit. The District will be required to remedy the high fluoride levels to avoid further violations. On it's website, CC&V notes that "water quality is regulated by two separate agencies," which on the surface would make one feel secure. Surface water is regulated by the Water Quality Control Division of the Colorado Department of Health, and the mine, as an active part of its permits, does all of the required testing and inspections. What the mine does not tell you is that CC&V Mine has been successful in getting certain contaminant levels adjusted for ambient and site specific standards. What this means is that due to the fact that historical mining has already impacted the water quality, and since CC&V is a zero discharge facility, adjustments have been footnoted for constituents like manganese and sulfates. Federal and EPA regs do not have to be adhered to on these items, and Park Center Water District is left alone to deal with these higher levels. In 2006, the WQCD proposed `the adoption of the Water Supply Use Classification" for Upper Arkansas Segment 21, which CC&V opposed. The water quality assessment for the Carlton Tunnel completed in 2005 listed the following "Pollutants of Concern": Total Recoverable Arsenic, Dissolved Cadmium, Dissolved Chromium VI, Dissolved Copper, Free Cyanide, Total Recoverable Iron, Dissolved Lead, Dissolved Manganese, Total Mercury, Dissolved Nickel, Dissolved Selenium, Dissolved Silver, Dissolved Zinc. " However, in 2007 in a Sur-Rebuttal Statement, WQCD stated that "The Commission has determined that it is not appropriate to add a water supply classification to either of these segments at this time. The evidence submitted does not demonstrate an immediate threat to either water supply...". Park Center Water District would like to see that it never becomes an "immediate threat" to our users. We would prefer being proactive rather than reactive for the health and well being of our constituents. The Division recommended that Park Center continue to monitor for sulfates at our intake, which we do, but we believe that CC&V mine should take the initiative to assume some responsibility for the mining industry's affect on Colorado's water supply. We believe that a pro-active partnership between CC&V mine, who is profiting from the mining activities, and the Water District, who is paying the exorbitant costs to treat the results of mining activity, would be of great benefit to users of Fourmile Creek waters. There are practical and feasible treatment techniques available to improve the Fourmile Creek water quality. Flow augmentation to provide adequate dilution or proportional pre-treatment of Carlton Tunnel discharge would provide a significant remedy for the District's treatment problems. Upstream users should not threaten or degrade water quality for downstream users.