Environment: Forest stream study traces nitrates

Posted on March 21, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Even some ‘pristine’ streams show signs of human impacts

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New research helps shed light on long-term nutrient level changes. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Nitrates are increasing even in some pristine forest streams in the mountain West and the South, while declining in the Pacific Northwest, in the Northeast, and in Puerto Rico, according to a new study led by Oregon State University researchers.

The long-term data from the Forest Service Experimental Forest and Range network, a system of 80 locations across the country. Many of the sites have long-term monitoring programs and data sets spanning decades and so provide unique opportunities to evaluate long-term trends. (more…)

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Environment: New Florida water quality plan flawed

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Measures don’t meet Clean Water Act requirements

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Florida’s Everglades are threatened by a new state water plan. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Watchdog grous are characterizing a proposed Florida water quality plan as a give-away to polluting industries, creating even more loopholes to spew sewage, manure, and fertilizer into Florida waters, according to watchdog groups who sued the state and federal government in 2008 for their failure to set pollution limits, as required by the Clean Water Act.

“We have record numbers of dead manatees washing up on southwest Florida right now, in the prime of our tourist season,” said Earthjustice attorney David Guest. “Where is the leadership? This is an absolute sell out. This bogus plan gives deep-pocketed polluters even more loopholes. And what do we, the public, get? More gross, slimy algae in the water.”

Earthjustice said the plan was developed in a shady backroom deal without public input, and pointed out that a federal court has to review the plan under the terms of an earlier settlement agreement. (more…)

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Udall visits Summit County to tout new mine cleanup rules

Posted on January 17, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
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Pollution from an abandoned mine turned the Blue River bright orange in April 2006. Bob Berwyn photo.

Public event planned Jan. 18 near Breckenridge

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — Around the West, there are thousands of abandoned mines polluting streams and killing fish, and many volunteer cleanup efforts have been stymied by strict Clean Water Act liability provisions.

Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) for years has been working with the EPA to try and make it easier for Good Samaritan groups to tackle remediation projects without taking on responsibility for future pollution. Those efforts showed results in December, when the EPA issued new guidance specifying that Good Samaritans are generally not responsible for obtaining a Clean Water Act permit during or after a successful cleanup conducted according to a Good Samaritan agreement with EPA. Read the memo here.

Udall will be in Summit County Friday (Jan. 18) along with EPA Regional Administrator Jim Martin to discuss the new policy and the public is invited to attend the event, set for 11 a.m. at the Iron Springs Mill off Boreas Pass Road. (more…)

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Colorado: Study shows pine beetle invasion hasn’t led to serious nitrogen pollution in forest watersheds

Posted on January 16, 2013 by Bob Berwyn

Nature mitigates its own impacts

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Young trees and brush are increasing their nitrogen uptake in the wake of the pine beetle infestation, helping to minimize impacts to water quality. Bob Berwyn photo.

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Early fears that the bark beetle epidemic could degrade water quality are proving unfounded, according to CU-Boulder scientists, who said smaller trees and undergrowth that survive the epidemic have increased their uptake of nitrogen as the older trees die.

While logging or damaging storms can drive stream nitrate concentrations up by 400 percent for multiple years, the team found no significant increase in the nitrate concentrations following extensive pine beetle tree mortality in a number of Colorado study areas, according to CU-Boulder Professor William Lewis. (more…)

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Colorado: New groundwater protection rules still contentious

Posted on January 9, 2013 by Bob Berwyn
The proliferation of oil and gas drilling in Colorado raises serious questions about water quality impacts. Photo courtesy SkyTruth.

The proliferation of oil and gas drilling in Colorado raises serious questions about water quality impacts. Photo courtesy SkyTruth.

State officials claim new rules are pioneering; conservation advocates say rule-making ignored science

By Bob Berwyn

FRISCO — Colorado officials are touting new groundwater protection rules as a pioneering step in the regulation of of oil and gas drilling, but conservation groups say the requirements don’t do enough to protect public health and water quality.

The Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission this week approved the regulations after months of stakeholder discussions with the goal of protecting well owners and the industry. The rules require drilling companies to sample nearby water wells both before and after drilling. Only two other states have mandatory groundwater programs in place and no other state in the country requires operators to take post-drilling water samples. (more…)

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Stream impacts start at earliest stages of urban development

Posted on December 10, 2012 by Bob Berwyn
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Aquatic diversity diminishes quickly

By Summit Voice

FRISCO — Streams are much more sensitive to development impacts than previously believed, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey study. The research shows that  loss of sensitive species in streams starts at the initial stages of urban development. For example, by the time urban development had approached 20 percent in watersheds in the New England area, the aquatic invertebrate community had undergone a change in species composition of about 25 percent. (more…)

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Colorado: Hearing on controversial uranium mill starts; conservation groups get formal party status

Posted on October 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Many southwest Colorado residents are saying no thanks to uranium mining and milling in their region.

Hearing starts Oct. 15 for what would be the country’s first new uranium mill in 30 years

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — After a start-stop permitting procedure for a proposed uranium mill in southwestern Colorado was marred by inadequate public hearings, state officials will once again take input in formal proceedings starting Oct. 15.

This time, a judge has given three conservation groups formal standing for the hearings, which means that environmental advocates will be able to introduce evidence, testify and cross-examine witnesses.

The Piñon Ridge mill is proposed for the Paradox Valley, in southwestern Colorado near the Dolores River. The three groups — Rocky Mountain Wild, Colorado Environmental Coalition and the Center for Biological Diversity — will join the towns of Telluride, Ophir, and San Miguel County in voicing concerns about the proposed mill’s threats to air, water, wildlife and tourism. (more…)

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Study: Carbon nanotubes can be toxic to aquatic life

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Carbon nanotube schematic, courtesy the Wikimedia Commons.

Researchers urge caution in manufacturing, stepping up waste management oversight

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Carbon nanotubes, valuable for strengthening industrial and recreational products, can kill aquatic organisms, according to University of Alaska and U.S. Geological Survey researchers, who said it’s important to guard against release of the materials into the environment as the materials enter mass production.

“The great promise of carbon nanotubes must be balanced with caution and preparation,” said Baolin Deng, professor and chair of chemical engineering at the University of Missouri. “We don’t know enough about their effects on the environment and human health. The EPA and other regulatory groups need more studies like ours to provide information on the safety of CNTs.” (more…)

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Colorado: Court upholds rules that protect water from uranium mining and protect right to public involvement

Posted on July 15, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Legal battles over uranium mining in Colorado continue.

Canadian company tries to overturn state rules

By Summit Voice

SUMMIT COUNTY — Efforts by a Canadian mining company to bully Colorado came to naught last week, as Denver District Court Judge Christina Habas upheld state regulations that protect water from in situ leach uranium mining impacts.

In its lawsuit against the state, Powertech Uranium Corp. claimed that the Colorado exceeded its legal authority and that adoption of the rules was arbitrary and capricious.

By dismissing the lawsuit, the court also ensured that local communities will have a chance to be involved in the permitting of uranium mines.

“The Colorado uranium mining industry is wrong to keep fighting water quality protections and better public involvement,” said Western Mining Action Project attorney Jeff Parsons, who represented local communities that intervened on the side of the State in defending the rules against the Powertech lawsuit. (more…)

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Colorado: Partial mine cleanup at Sts. John this summer

Posted on May 23, 2012 by Bob Berwyn

Abandoned mine cleanup planned to reduce toxic heavy metals loading

Toxic devastation at the abandoned Saints John Mine in Summit County, Colorado.

Sterile ponds below the abandoned Saints John Mine.

By Bob Berwyn

SUMMIT COUNTY — As the first hard rock silver mine in Colorado, the Saints John Mine, above Montezuma, helped fuel the state’s rush to riches during what’s now a legendary era.

But inevitably, the mines played out and the miners moved on. leaving behind a toxic legacy that’s not unique to Saints John. Across the West, thousands of streams and lakes suffered a similar fate.

Beautiful as Saints John Creek may look, it’s heavily polluted with cadmium, copper, lead and zinc that leaches into the water from weathered waste rock and from the underground workings of the former mine. (more…)

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