Colorado Camping

[KJRitchie]

If Silverton had agreed to Superfund why would that have changed anything regarding tourism? The average tourist doesn't keep track of that sort of thing and the cleanup site is upstream from my understanding. The Animas has never been a blue ribbon trout stream due to old mining and natural caused effluent. Would Superfund have prevented or reduced the likelihood of a spill?

Kelvin

[phlegm]

Maybe I'm daft.. but wouldn't Superfund have brought in outside workers to clean up the mess? Offsetting the lost tourism revenue?


Being from a relatively sheltered state, I had to look up what a Superfund site was. And in the process found this article posted before the incident..
Very interesting.

Originally posted July 30,2015

EPA plan is really a 'Superfund blitzkrieg' -- Silverton Standard & the Miner News Paper

[Msmoto]

Well, on the east side of the state, below where ballon boy came from a couple years ago...LOL, I will offer this: Go to Google maps, find this spot,
7401-17745 County Road 75
Trinidad, CO 81082
37.242658, -104.467244
And, you will see from the satellite a 40' x 60' RV pad, available for use. Some cows roam around, pronghorn, and snakes, but otherwise this is quite peaceful. No power, no water, but very quiet at night.

If someone wants to camp for free a few nights, let me know by PM.

Or, a very nice campground is Trinidad Lake State Park, the Carpios Ridge Campground especially. Rates are usual for state parks.

[flyingcloud]

We just spent the past 6 weeks scouting Colorado, and most of our favorites were boondocking spots: On the Road: Colorado –

[RoadJager]

Originally Posted by phlegm

Maybe I'm daft.. but wouldn't Superfund have brought in outside workers to clean up the mess? Offsetting the lost tourism revenue?


Being from a relatively sheltered state, I had to look up what a Superfund site was. And in the process found this article posted before the incident..
Very interesting.

Originally posted July 30,2015

EPA plan is really a 'Superfund blitzkrieg' -- Silverton Standard & the Miner News Paper

Please ref. the following:
https://www.hcn.org/articles/when-ou...as-river-spill
There is a lot of politically motivated commentary about the EPA. If I understand the history and other readings I have done on this problem in this area, the problem was caused by the mining industry, NOT the EPA. The mining industry seems to have a track record of creating Superfund sites by their lack of respect for the enviornment. The EPA in this circumstance was attempting to research a fix for a bigger more serious problem that was not created by them but by the mining industry. Would the doubters of the EPA's integrity have preferred that this leak have been initiated/caused by a private company that would not have had the resources to clean up this problem? I believe it was very fortunate that the spill did not happen on its own, which there are signs it was getting ready to. Please do not be afraid of the area becoming a Superfund site. Moab Utah was a superfund site with uranium mine tailings and lots of contaminated water. Economically it is flourishing. Health in Moab, Utah
I believe that this spill in Silverton/Durango may be a blessing in disguise.
My wife and I are headed for 2 weeks in the Durango/Silverton area at the end of the month. We never had planned to do any water sports so the water issue, short of drinking water, was never a issue for us. But it has not deterred us from visiting now or in the future. It will continue to get even better after this.

[eubank]

Yes, it is very unfortunate that it became politicized. Seems like the politicos do this all too often nowadays.

Speaking of mining history, though, the Taos News came out with a fairly long story comparing the situation in Silverton to the situation in Questa, NM, a few dozen miles north of Taos. Similar histories, different outcomes.

Red River ‘comeback’ contrasts Animas mess | News | taosnews.com

Lynn