The Animas River in Durango was opened on Friday. The level of minerals is back to the levels that existed before the accidental release of mineral and mud tainted water from the Gold King mine. The level of minerals had actually returned to pre-event levels last Friday but since testing wasn't completed until Tuesday and since further testing of additional samples as well as river sediments was thought to be prudent, the river was not opened until yesterday.
It is noteworthy that the minerals that flowed into the Animas from the Gold King event are the same minerals that have always existed in the soil and have always flowed into the Animas River. This was the case before mining began in the 1800s but mining activities significantly increased these releases. The problem exists throughout Colorado where there are over 200 hundred draining mines.
Lax regulations from the days of the mining boom in the state dating back to the late 1850s have allowed for contaminated waters to build up. The locations are primarily in historic mining districts, including 230 draining mines within the Colorado Mineral Belt. The belt runs from the mountains of Southwest Colorado to around the middle of the state, near Boulder.
Generally, the minerals that flow into the rivers from these mines are not toxic when they are present at their normal background levels. To a greater or lesser extent the same is true for every river in the world, all of which contain run off from their watersheds that include the minerals in the soils.
The issue is not the presence of these minerals but the rate at which they flow into a river such as the Animas. During heavy rain and snow melt the river volume increases and also the amount of minerals in the water. But because of the increased flows the concentration of minerals generally stays within acceptable levels.
The Gold King event turned this normal phenomenon on its ear. We had relatively low river flows at about 500 CFS (cubic feet/second) and a sudden release of water with very high mineral content as well as mud. The two factors combined to cause a spike in the river's mineral levels and a reduction in its PH levels.
But this was a short term event and mineral levels in Durango dropped to pre-event levels by Friday, two days after the event, but the testing was not completed until Tuesday.
It is noteworthy that there has been virtually no coverage of the reopening of the Animas compared with the hysterical coverage of the initial event. For instance, much was made of the fact that "three million" gallons of contaminated water flowed from the mine. Three million sounds like a very scary number but, while it's a big number if you're talking about gallons of Coca-Cola it is not necessarily a big number when you're talking about River flows. The Animas is currently flowing at approximately 500 cubic feet per second (CFS). This is a low rate for the Animas but typical for this time of year. At that rate 3750 gallons are flowing in the Animas in Durango every second. The 3,000,000 gallons that came from the mine represent 18 minutes of the Animas is flow at that time. So, yes, it was a lot of water, but it flowed quickly and within 48 hours mineral levels had returned to normal.
Also, in watching the news coverage of this event it has been striking how little context has been placed on the events that unfolded. First and foremost, the minerals that came out of the Gold King mine are no different from the minerals that flow into the Animas every single day.
Under normal circumstances the presence of these minerals in the Animas is well within accepted norms both for domestic consumption, fishing and recreation. In fact, the Animas is one of the sources of drinking water for Durango and there is a section of the Animas right in downtown Durango that has been designated as a gold-medal fishing stream. In addition, the Animas is a prime white-water rafting river for over twenty miles from below Silverton through Durango.
The existence of the mines and their affect on water quality of the Animas has been an issue that has been dealt with over the years with mixed results. Many mines in Colorado including some in the Animas drainage have seen remediation efforts designed to control the amount of drainage and mitigate the high concentrations of minerals in water that does drain. But there has been resistance by some in the town of Silverton, where many of these abandoned mines are located, to agree to having some of the sites declared as Superfund sites which would result in a comprehensive solution to the problem. Silverton is a tourist town and many businesses and residents are fearful of the effect that a "Superfund" designation would have on their business.
The Gold King mine event of last Friday may finally cause a new consensus to develop to deal with these problems. We need a comprehensive solution the mine drainage issues for the Animas and the river drainages in Colorado. But we don't need hysterical uninformed media coverage that converts a short lived, temporary, event into some gigantic irrecoverable catastrophe.