|
 When
the New York Times runs a story with the headline, “Mine Water Poses Danger
of a Toxic Gusher” (Feb 28, 2008), you know your county’s getting some
attention. Some might even say the circus is coming to town.
Luckily Lake County, home of Leadville, Colorado has a Public Works Director
who knows how to get things done.
Lately everyone from the feds to the county commissioners to the town mayor
has a different opinion. But they’re all trying to safeguard Leadville,
whilst the press looks on.
The summary of the latest circus goes like this: There may be a very large
quantity of water building up in an abandoned mine in Leadville. Abandoned
mines often have high levels of dangerous chemicals, and heavy metals within
them. As large amounts of snow melt, large amounts of water are created and
have to flow somewhere.
And there the agreement stops.
In 1995 a collapse in the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel was detected. By
November 2007 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regional
administrator wrote a letter expressing concern about a “potentially
catastrophic” release of water from the tunnel. When the Bureau of
Reclamation dragged its feet on reacting to the EPA statement, Lake County
commissioners took matters into their own hands.
They drafted a letter to the press and declared an emergency disaster saying
in their statement, “We have elements of Bhopal, India, the Teton Dam and
the Summitville Mine in Colorado all rolled into one.” Immediately, the
state governor escalated the emergency to the federal level, appealed to the
President, and the EPA was invited into town. Leadville, a town that was a
former Superfund site, doesn’t want to go through that again.
The mayor is angry that the town wasn’t consulted before the county sounded
the alarm. And the most recent drama became national news when one of the
county commissioners halted the EPA’s work by demanding money for a drainage
tube to pass through his property. He subsequently withdrew the demand.
Through it all, Brad Palmer has had more and more responsibilities layered
upon him. After 142 inches of snow in January and February, and with only
seven operators, that makes for 45.6 miles of road per operator. This season
it also made for 324 hours of overtime.
Palmer’s crew just started working with PubWorks asset and
resource management software in January, but he says they got the program
just in time. The crew is maxed, but they’ve still been helping the EPA
access areas to do drainage work. They’ve also been assisting the Colorado
Department of Transportation (CDOT) by hot steaming frozen culverts; keeping
them open so draining water doesn’t freeze onto highways.
“We print off invoices [from PubWorks] and the EPA sends us a
check back,” says Palmer. “The program works outstanding for that, too.”
The next responsibility that’s been placed on his shoulders? He’s been given
the responsibility for keeping the airport clear of snow. He says he has no
idea of the cost, but by next year, he’ll have all the data to budget for
it, and show his PubWorks report to commissioners.
What’s Palmer’s inspiration for taking on such a heavy load?
His answer says it all. “We’ve gotten tons of great compliments, and no grief
from commissioners.”
Meanwhile, throughout town, everyone is hoping that the pressure that is the
water in the mountain, and the spotlight of the national press can be
brought under control.
Palmer, who is also a father of a fallen 2006 Iraq veteran, has a request
for other PubWorks users: They’re looking for a better “job sheet” -
One that operators may fill-out more quickly and completely to capture data on
their daily work. If you have one that’s worked for you, please forward it
on to roadnbridge@leadville.net
Do you have a similar success story? Please
share it with us; call
Jennifer Burr at (970) 379-3061.
Table of Contents Volume 4, Edition 2
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