Fox News ha what a joke. They're comparable to the National Enquirer as far as being credible.
Toxic Mine Spill-Durango, Co
- Thread starter Colorado Cowboy
- Start date
tim
Veteran member
hopefully some people have to lose jobs and be made to pay back personally, just like a search and rescue or if you caused a fire.
Colorado officials stated today that the water in the Animas is now safe to be treated and used for drinking water.......whatever the hell that means!
micropterus79
Active Member
Guys, I am no big fan of the EPA but calling for blood from them on this one is no better than what they do.
I just want the feds to hold themselves to the same standards as similar private industries. No less, no more.
As far as effects go, just because something looks really bad and ugly doesn't mean that is. Not all toxic sludge is created equal and since we don't even know what is in it (thank you EPA), no one can really predict the damage. For example, residents around Dillon Lake in CO used to hate it when the lake would turn after ice off because all the sludge from the bottom would come up to the top due to thermal gradients and make the lake look like pea soup. Lakes are supposed to do this; its important for redistribution of nutrients and oxygen. But since it "looked" bad either the town or the county treated it one year to kill the algal growth and it screwed the whole system. That was at least 15 years ago and I don't know that it ever really came back.
I also remember an expert (a Ph.D. aquatic ecologist like myself) say that the BP spill will be "the worst ecological disaster of our time." Really? If you lost your livelihood, then fair enough but, on a larger scale, compared to what we think happened to the dinosaurs or all the critters that had to deal with the last ice age, I don't think so.
Unless there are copper and zinc ions (classic mine waste synergistic toxin) in high enough concentrations (after dilution in the river), then there are certainly worse things that could have happened, I do not know but I suspect after a week or the first big rainstorm, there will be little or no evidence of the spill.
I just want the feds to hold themselves to the same standards as similar private industries. No less, no more.
As far as effects go, just because something looks really bad and ugly doesn't mean that is. Not all toxic sludge is created equal and since we don't even know what is in it (thank you EPA), no one can really predict the damage. For example, residents around Dillon Lake in CO used to hate it when the lake would turn after ice off because all the sludge from the bottom would come up to the top due to thermal gradients and make the lake look like pea soup. Lakes are supposed to do this; its important for redistribution of nutrients and oxygen. But since it "looked" bad either the town or the county treated it one year to kill the algal growth and it screwed the whole system. That was at least 15 years ago and I don't know that it ever really came back.
I also remember an expert (a Ph.D. aquatic ecologist like myself) say that the BP spill will be "the worst ecological disaster of our time." Really? If you lost your livelihood, then fair enough but, on a larger scale, compared to what we think happened to the dinosaurs or all the critters that had to deal with the last ice age, I don't think so.
Unless there are copper and zinc ions (classic mine waste synergistic toxin) in high enough concentrations (after dilution in the river), then there are certainly worse things that could have happened, I do not know but I suspect after a week or the first big rainstorm, there will be little or no evidence of the spill.
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az.mountain runner
Active Member
I would not hunt or fish Colorado until an independent study has been done of meat on both spieces,and microptus79 we should have the facts before we get out the rope , but I'm not eating anything that isn't tested first, who will replace wild game that is contaminated from the water. It's effect could go along way.
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Eberle
Veteran member
I have rode mules South of Silverton up elk creek canyon. My mules do not even like drinking out of the Animas during normal conditions. I have never drank or never will drink out of that river. Even purified people have told me it taste bad from all the past mining upstream. One guy told me the river was full of iron ore. We usually drink out of elk creek, I always purify water with a pump/filter no matter where it comes from.
Eberle
Veteran member
[I also remember an expert (a Ph.D. aquatic ecologist like myself) say that the BP spill will be "the worst ecological disaster of our time." Really? If you lost your livelihood, then fair enough but, on a larger scale, compared to what we think happened to the dinosaurs or all the critters that had to deal with the last ice age, I don't think so.]
microptus79,
That guy needs to read the last book of the Bible, Revelations!
microptus79,
That guy needs to read the last book of the Bible, Revelations!
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micropterus79
Active Member
I can't argue with that and I personally wouldn't drink the water in that river as is. Based on Eberle's advice, maybe never.
Point is, I've been trying to follow this and there has been some good information on this topic posted on this forum. My frustration is more with the fact that the EPA is not saying exactly what the waste was but in the meantime, most media outlets as far as I can see, are once again focusing on blame not facts, scale and importance and probably causing a lot of confusion when we don't really appear to have a lot of information. I will also add that I 100% agree that if a private company had done this and wasn't releasing all the data, they would already be shut down for a federal investigation. I work at a small community college and we have to know exactly what is in each of our laboratory waste containers and we don't even use very much harmful stuff.
Eberle, guilty as charged. I have not read the whole bible but agreed, the events described in revelations would be the worst by far.
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