Animas River Community Forum

Meeting Notes

January 18, 2017

Attending: Chuck Wanner, Ty Churchwell (TU), Ellen Roberts, Marcel Gaztambide (SJCA), Tami Sheldon (BOR), Rachel Hoffman (VISTA-AWP), Celine Hawkins(TNC), Megan Mast (BLM-Silverton area), Ann Oliver (AWP), Terry Heslin (BLM Rocky Mtn. District), Becky Joyce (SJCPH), Marcie Bidwell (MSI), Jeremy May (VISTA-MSI), Kirsten Brown (DRMS), Norman Norvelle (NM GKM Citizens Advisory Committee), Shannon Manfredi (ARCF Coord.), Jonathan Romeo (Dgo Herald), Ben Martinez (SJNF)

UPDATES

  1. Kirsten Brown: DRMS sampled about 60+ draining mines in the Animas River watershed and 3 in the La Platas. The data will be ready for distribution sometime in March.
  2. Ben Martinez, USFS: the BPMD Interagency Coordination Team had a planning meeting in December to coordinate plans for the 2017 work year. They have organized their work by working groups and identified tasks for each group. The BPMD Site Team will continue to be in the area the last full week of the month. They typically have meetings in Silverton, including Wednesday with the County and Tuesday afternoon w/the Town; they also meet w/La Plata County during that week. Often or as requested, they meet w/ARSG, TU, and other Forum Partners.
  3. EPA released their notice to continue the operations of the Interim Water Treatment Plant. As a part of that announcement, the treatment plant transferred from management by the EPA Emergency Response program (responding to the Gold King Mine) to the Remedial Action program of CERCLA (i.e., the same branch of the EPA for the BPMD Superfund site). Hence, said more simply and in context: management of the treatment plant has been transferred to the Bonita Peak Mining District. This may change the ability of the Water Treatment plant to treat additional water or additional sites (this is a complicated and detailed analysis will be required).
  4. San Juan County Public Health completed verification sampling for the fall. They pulled the probes and monitoring equipment for the winter due to freezing temperatures and ice flows in the winter. They are continuing to keep an eye on Cement Creek. Becky reported that the EPA had changed out the bags of sediment for the winter to new bags.
  5. AWP completed 2.2 miles of riparian fencing to improve water quality in the Florida River and the Animas River by improving nonpoint source contributions. The Florida meets the Animas immediately above the NM-CO state line and the water quality in the Animas as it enters New Mexico does not meet nonpoint source standards in New Mexico. Salt Creek is also a contributor.
  6. Trout Unlimited (TU) Ty Churchwell provided an update regarding Good Samaratian Legislation to build community support. TU formed the San Juan Clean Water Coalition to develop support for the initiative. The group is educating communities in the San Juan region about a regional potential bill. Good Sam legislation shifted after the Gold King Mine spill to be focused on a national bill, rather than a local effort. TU’s objectives for SJ Clean Water Coalition also embraces cleaning up the Animas River and providing public support for protecting the river. The Coalition speaks to 130 Durango and regional businesses, local and national organizations.
  7. Update Legislation: Senator Bennett and Representative Tipton did retain their seats in the election. Senator Gardner has supported the initiative in the past as well. The new Congress is still getting in place, and TU will continue to advocate for the legislation and continue to support the effort in the next year.
  8. TU and Citizens Advisory Group (CAG): TU has offered to the community that they would be interested in being the CAG for the Animas River community. TU is exploring the option and how the role would fit into their mission and the community needs. The EPA is interested in having a conversation about their interest, but they have all agreed to wait until the EPA’s Community Survey is completed (currently in analysis) to inform the question of whether there is a need for a CAG.
  9. EPA BPMD is developing a Community Involvement Plan for the BPMD: The EPA BPMD and CDPHE Superfund Communications team is soliciting community input regarding developing their Community Involvement Plan for outreach and engagement
  10. Recommended interviews
  11. Ann Oliver, AWP; Ellen Roberts; Celine Hawkins expressed interest in being interviewed. Shannon will pass these names onto Cynthia (EPA) and Warren (CDPHE) who are leading this effort.
  12. Marcie reported that MSI and TU collected macro invertebrates at approximately 15 sites.
  13. Emergency Response Update: Trevor Denny (CDPHE Emergency Mgmt)could not attend the mtg, but gave the following information to Shannon for his update: the Alert Notification Plan developed last year is scheduled to be reviewed and adjusted as needed in February. They are evaluating the data from the first year to reviewthe 4 or 5 incidents that triggered the system in the past year, including a review of accuracy and whether the thresholds for triggering an alert need to be adjusted. They are also reviewing the instrumentation of what was employed and what could be determined with the information the system is gathering. In the discussion that followed, it was noted that CDPHE and EPA have two different communication trees when an alert is triggered, which share many of the main contacts but are not entirely the same list of people. They have multiple tiers, with levels of engagement assigned at each level. Contacts for the systems are Trevor Denny, CO EMS; Tom McNamera; La Plata County EMS; and Jim Donovan, San Juan County EMS. EPA also has an emergency plan in place for the treatment plant.
  14. Ellen asked that a future meeting of ARCF include a new update and a new update for the public of how they would understand in the event of future emergencies.
  15. Ellen also asked who is sharing the system and lessons learned with other communities, such as Crested Butte and Leadville, so that they can also learn about the outcomes.
  16. Becky Joyce shared that San Juan County representatives have collaborated and shared information with Ouray and San Miguel Counties to share their information. Also, information of what has been developed was shared at the CO Conference for EMS Managers.
  17. Ellen suggested that there are others that would be interested, such as state legislature representatives with potential interests (on committees or in communities), elected officials (county, towns), Colorado Municipal League (CML), Colorado Commission of Ski Towns, and others. Ann added public water suppliers and water system managers would also be interested. One suggestion was to provide a package of information on the lessons learned here and how to prepare in other communities.
  18. New Mexico Citizens Advisory Committee- Norm presented that the various local entities and governmentsin NM and Navajo tribe sued EPA for the Gold King Mine Spill. The EPA said that laws prevent the EPA from being sued. The Committee wants to prevent a spill from happening again in the future. The NMED is conducting monitoring in the river, including fish tissue samples. New Mexico is also looking more into sediment deposition, dynamics, and contaminant levels. Results are available online at Also, NMED-Water Quality Research Institute will host the 2nd Annual Conference,“Environmental Conditionsof the Animas and San Juan Watersheds with emphasis on the Gold King Mineand Other Mine Waste Issues”on June 20-21st at San Juan College, Henderson Fine Arts Center, Farmington, NM. The call for presentations is currently open.

CALENDAR UPDATES

January 19th- Silverton Science Talk: MSI will be hosting a Science Talk in Silverton by Dr. Rory Cowie on mountain hydrology and acid mine drainage. Silverton Town Hall,

January 26th- Job Training: San Juan Public Lands Center is offering a training for entities who are interested in contracting with the federal government. This training will enable contractors who would like to know more about receiving and applying for contracts.

February 23rd- Animas River Stakeholders Group next meeting in Silverton, Silverton Town Hall

March 1-Animas Watershed Partnership’s Winter River Forum, including a conversation withDavid Stiller, Durango local and author of the book, Wounding the West: Montana, Mining, and the Environment.Mr. Stiller will discuss:Abandoned Mines in the West: Origin, Consequences & Prospects. Also, Grassburger will be contributing 10% of proceeds to the Animas Watershed Partnership on this day.

April –AWP will be hosting two restoration volunteer days using Hydro Stinger to plant willows at river front sites. AWP will be providing lunch for the participants.

May 25-26st- San Juan Mining and Reclamation Conference will be hosted in Ouray. The theme will be address Measuring Success, Innovation, and the Future. More information will be available at MSI’s website. The conference is currently soliciting abstracts for presentations, posters, & roundtable discussions; Deadline is March 15th. For more information

June 20-21st:NMED Water Resource Research Institute’s 2nd Annual Conference, Environmental Conditions of the Animas and San Juan Watersheds with emphasis on the Gold King Mineand Other Mine Waste IssuesSan Juan College, Henderson Fine Arts Center, Farmington, NM. The call for presentations is currently open.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Monitoring and Data Gaps Committee-

The committee hosted a Data Exchange for pulling together the available data sources in the Animas drainage with 18 entities contributing. Using the Community Survey as their guide, they developed a series of questions that they are hoping the data will help them answer for the community’s concerns and interests. The Committee is researching different forms of “report cards” for summarizing the current state of the river and explaining it the community.

DISCUSSION:

  1. Bonita Peak Mining District- Community Outreach Discussion(These discussion points are also related to Updates #2 & #9 above)
  2. Ellen suggested that the EPA should offer more opportunities for people to ask questions and get informed at different times and places.
  3. The general community is still interested, they just have competing demands for their time and do not know when the meetings are happening.
  4. The communication and outreach should not be limited to emergencies.
  5. Other Forum members noted that the EPA has been available and responsive to questions and requests, e.g., attendance at Forum mtgs, their fall public mtgs, attending the Forum’s Annual Celebration, as well as San Juan County’s Health Fair, and Silverton’s SuperFunDays. They are receptive to input from partners about where they should be present.
  6. There’s a lot going on w/the BPMD. Assessments and planning efforts are organized by the following topics/groups:
  7. Community Outreach Group
  8. Data Management Group
  9. Hydrologic Work Group
  10. Characterization Group (This includes the Biological Technical Assistance Group (BTAG))
  11. Legal Group
  12. Response Action Group
  13. BPMD Team with CERCLA Authorities include: EPA, Rebecca Thomas; BLM- Kris Doebbler (detailing to replace Brent Lewis); CDPHE- Mark Rudolf; and USFS, Ben Martinez

FINANCES

Shannon presented a brief summary of the ARCF finances, including:

  • The 2016 budget had a balance of approximately $9,766.
  • Kirsten Brown, DRMS has committed $2000 to support Forum operations (organizing meetings, disseminating updates; coordinating collection and use of water quality data to respond to community questions;disseminating lessons learned; and coordinating public input in to the goals for the BPMD Superfund site.
  • Shannon reported that a 2017 budget had been developed and that an Education Grant was prepared and submitted to the Southwestern Water Conservation District. [Update: The grant was awarded! A Big THANKS  to Trevor Denny, Julie Westendorff, Ann Oliver, and Chara Ragland for attending the SWCD Board mtg in support of the Forum.]
  • A handout was provided that included a summary of 2016 ending finances; 2017 Budget Summary and a list of other potential grants that the Forum could consider

ARC FORUM 2017

Shannon presented the overview of the 2017 Objectives that were developed at the November meeting; including the following focus or objectives for 2017:

  1. Share information via bi-monthly meetings,Emails, and webpage postings
  2. Continue to support committee efforts, i.e., Data Gaps and Information and Education
  3. Coordination of activities, or discussion topics as identified by Forum members

Meetings were proposed to be approximately every two months. For BPMD attendance, it was suggested that Wed. afternoons the last full week of the month might work best for them. The group was reluctant to pick a standard mtg. date. Hence, Shannon will select meeting dates for 2017.

ARCF Meeting Topics:It was also suggested that each meeting include a focus topics of interest to the participating organizations and meetings. Forum members suggested the following Ideas for meeting topic presentations:

  1. Rory Cowie, present on mountain groundwater, bulkheads, and underground interactions.
  2. Trevor Denny, Emergency Plan updates and improvements in responses
  3. Colorado State Strategy for draining mines and the inventory updates, when it is ready
  4. What proactive steps are the CO WQ and DRMS programs taking to address our threats?
  5. Besides BPMD, what other CO actions are going forward? Other states?
  6. Good Sam Update, as the new Congress gets in place.
  7. What it does, why it is still needed
  8. There are two remaining sites in the Animas Drainage, and a few other smaller sites, that Good Sam would be a useful tool for cleanup. However, other sites in the San Juans are
  9. Water Treatment Plant- plans for going forward. Now that the plant has been transferred to the Remedial
  10. Beyond Mining- what other water quality issues are people addressing in the Animas River
  11. Nutrients, sludge septic systems, pharmaceuticals,
  12. USGS Background studies regarding geologic characterization of the watershed, summarizing the 1651 Professional Paper.
  13. BTAG update
  14. Restoration progress- TU and USFS Hermosa Creek Project, or other examples of progress in the region
  15. Regional Collaboration- Cross boundary, tribal, coordination

Upcoming Forum Meeting & Subgroup/Team Meeting Dates

  1. Next Forum Mtg: March 20th 2:30- 4:30 PM at the SJPLC
  2. Gaps Analysis Team Mtg: March 7th at 8:30 AM at Barb Horn’s Office/Mtg Room
  3. Steering Committee Mtg: Feb. 27th 3:30 at the SJPLC

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