| 2/14/2008 1:23:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article | Fear of blowout at tunnel
By Ann E. Wibbenmeyer - Leadville Herald
An estimated 1.5 billion gallons of water is straining on blockage in the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel, leading Lake County Commissioners to declare a state of emergency Wednesday.
Commissioners issued the declaration because of lack of response to historic water levels accumulated in the mine pool east of Leadville.
And, with a 168 percent of average snowpack, officials fear spring runoff could increase water level and pressure in the blocked drainage tunnel, leading to a catastrophic blowout.
"At this blockage, there is a head of water almost 200 feet high pressing against a possible rock and rubble 'dam.' No engineers were involved in design of the rock-fall 'dam.'
"Two hundred feet of water behind an unknown something creates extreme trepidation," Mike Hickman, a Lake County Commissioner, said Wednesday.
Bob Elder, a local expert on mine pool history, drew attention to the issue during the fall. He first noticed water levels in old mines, tunnels and faults were higher than they should be if the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel was working correctly.
The tunnel system is operated by the Bureau of Reclamation. Bureau officials claim it has no congressional authority to do anything with the tunnel other than treat drainage water coming out.
The water treatment plant is above the Village at East Fork trailer park north of Leadville off Colo. 91.
If water was to suddenly burst through the bottom of the Leadville tunnel, it would endanger lives of people living in the park and threaten health of the Arkansas River, officials said.
The potential disaster is being compared with the 1976 Teton Dam disaster, which was also a dam under control of the Bureau of Reclamation.
Officials recently noted elevated concentration of heavy metal levels flowing into the Arkansas River from California Gulch. They believe the plugged tunnel is causing water to seep into the gulch.
Elder said springs usually dry in the winter by the Gaw shaft, south of Harrison Avenue, are flowing - another symptom of the problem.
State Rep. Tom Massey of Poncha Springs and State Sen. Tom Wiens of Castle Rock, are drafting a joint resolution calling for state and federal action to avert a potential disaster in Lake and Chaffee counties.
Thursday, Massey, a Republican, said a blowout of the plugged tunnel could cause catastrophic loss of life in Lake County and poses disastrous consequences for the Arkansas River fishery and the rafting and tourism economy of the valley.
Massey and Wiens said they hope to have the resolution ready for consideration next week.
"We're getting jurisdictional questions," Massey said, instead of actions which could do something about the problem.
Wiens asked that the Bureau of Reclamation be tasked with an immediate fix to the issue.
The state of emergency declaration led to a Thursday conference call involving officials from the Colorado Department of Emergency Management, local officials including representatives from Chaffee County and other state and federal agencies.
"The beautiful snow could be a ticking time bomb," Wiens said during the call. He said the declaration should get the federal bureaucracy to start doing some promised things sooner rather than later.
During the call it was learned a letter from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Bureau of Reclamation stated EPA concern about, "an uncontrolled, potentially catastrophic release of water to the Arkansas River from the LMDT is likely at some point."
The Bureau of Reclamation, according to Peter Soeth, is developing a scope of work on an assessment to collect data regarding risk from water blocked in the tunnel which could be completed in seven to 14 days.
"Safety is our number one concern," he said.
Elder presented three possible solutions to Lake County Commissioners Wednesday.
One is horizontal drilling into the tunnel to relieve pressure. He presented the plan in more detail in November.
Another is using a pump and well already in the Gaw shaft for a project test never completed. The third is to put flumes into Big Evans Gulch, near where the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel empties, to keep more water from getting into the ground.
Massey drafts resolution
State Rep. Tom Massey and State Sen. Tom Wiens are drafting a joint resolution calling for state and federal action to avert a potential disaster in Lake and Chaffee counties.
Massey, a Poncha Springs Republican, said a blowout of the plugged tunnel could cause a catastrophic loss of life in Lake County and poses disastrous consequences for the Arkansas River fishery and the valley's rafting and tourism economy.
Massey of Poncha Springs and Wiens of Castle Rock say they hope to have the resolution ready for consideration next week.
"We're getting jurisdictional questions," Massey said, instead of actions which could do something about the problem.
The resolution asks that the Colorado governor and U.S. president declare a disaster emergency authorizing agencies to address the problem.
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