.Chairman's Report (Zeke Ward)
Zeke spoke of the questionnaire that was circulated at the pot-luck dinner on Nov.
6th. It was a good sample. Fifteen people responded from the community. Zeke
asked Glen to include the results of the survey with the minutes so they are attached to
this copy. There is a slight change from the survey that was taken a year or so earlier.
On the first questionnaire the highest priority was protection for the Rio Grande and
farther down on the list was historic preservation. On this new questionnaire, historic
preservation is first and protecting the Rio Grande is farther down. This is because
although there is only a small theoretical possibility for fish to be killed at present,
the specific things that killed fish in the past are not here anymore. Zeke brought it
up to the committee as to whether a larger sample should be taken in the community. JB
Alexander pointed out that we are going to get a biased answer because of the way the
survey would be conducted (only those with an axe to grind would bother to answer). Diana
Hammer spoke that the college may have a department that would help conduct an unbiased
survey. Glen said he would check out that possibility. Jim spoke of the High School being
a possibility. JB spoke that a telephone survey works good because you get to randomly
pick the sample, they don’t pick you. This survey should be done for our Spring
newsletter.
The Army Corp came on Tuesday the fifth of November to check out the flume through
town.
It was a multi-disciplined group. This was step one of their feasibility study to conclude
what would be the most cost-effective and best way to proceed i.e., complete
reconstruction, structural overlay, or a minimal patching job. Their hydrologic expert did
the calculation and made the determination that although we do not meet the 10 year event
requirement, we meet their 100 year potential flood event requirement, so they can be
authorized to move ahead on this project.
Zeke spoke of the Prospective Purchase Agreement that Diana made
available for us to look at. The latest version is 1995, and in this the EPA is given
specific guidelines that require it to take into consideration the benefits to the local
community even if it means a reduced benefit to the EPA. Another important part of this
document is "work performed in lieu of payment." This is very important and
could solve a lot of problems because as is presently understood, the money
involved in a liability buyout to the EPA by Creede Resources (Hecla) could only be used
to cleanup the site under a superfund re-mediation program. This would make it so the
money would not be available for us to work with. Work performed instead of payment would
work to clean up the site outside of the superfund designation. So this is very important.
Diana thinks it might be possible for the money to go to the site without it being
superfund and she will research this with the EPA lawyers to find out by the next meeting.
Many things might could be changed under the negotiation.
The question was brought up by Glen whether the Hecla land in question would include
just the part below Creede that is to be donated to the town, or if the Hecla land on
upper Willow Creeks is to be included in this liability buyout negotiation. Karen Hamilton
says the EPA can probably negotiate on a site specific basis if Hecla is willing.
Chuck Barnes said that to his understanding, the buyout negotiation has never had
anything to do with any other land except the Hecla land below town. The sense of urgency
that the town feels regards the Senior Citizens Center. Our deadline on that was several
years ago. Every-time an elderly person is loaded into an ambulance and taken to the
valley, this creates problems among Creede families who are trying to look after their
loved ones from a distant of 30 or 40 miles. This is creating a grave hardship on Creede
families and is getting worse all the time. The group that is trying to put together the
Senior Citizens Center needs to raised funds and the endowment that goes with it, but
needs the 5 or 6 acres on the hillside to get started. Long waits for title to the land
are becoming unbearable. Zeke stated that we don’t have to look very hard to find
great benefit to the community for the donation of this land.
The present understanding of the WCRC is that Creede Resources has given the EPA all
their data and that the EPA is still unhappy and wants more.
Zeke has suggested toTom Root (Hecla lawyer) that the Willow Creek Committee and the
town of Creede put together its own proposal for this negotiation. Our own proposal would
include a cleanup re-mediation plan of our own that involve a partnership between Creede
Resources and the Willow Creek Committee. We would plan a sinuous channel with willows and
other vegetation growing, a head-gate for water diversion, and any water purification
process that might be needed to meet State of Colorado Water Quality Standards. We in
conjunction with Creede Resources would lay out a clear plan that would state exactly to
the EPA what we would do and in return, they would sign off on the "promise not sue
agreement." This plan would be a condition of the contract, the work performed
in lieu of payment.
Zeke asks for comments and gets none, then asks again if there is a down side to
putting forth a plan to the EPA?
Mike Wireman advises that we come to a very good understanding of the CIRCLA issues
involved and a thorough understanding of the nature of the proposed agreement before we
invest a lot of time and energy in a plan of our own.
Zeke asks Diana if we are getting closer to knowing how much the superfund program of
EPA has spent already on our project that might be cost recoverable? Diana is still
working on this task. She brought up something called the "Spores Report" and
said she is not yet certain of what information can be released.
Mike advised that we proceed cautiously on this matter and that the superfund program is
running out of money and that we (the WCRC) would certainly never get any of that money.
Zeke advised that we should work to at least get Creede Resources a reasonable release
of liability so that we can get the thing cleaned up and get some type of deed so the
Senior Citizens Center can be built. Zeke says he sees no downside to Creede Resources and
the WCRC working together on this project.
Various people voiced that the Creede Resources - EPA negotiation is a closed door
affair but sooner or later the public will have to know what’s going on.
Mark Stromberg advised that we might be able to get some type of insurance to cover us
in regards to cost over-runs involved in the cleanup effort.
Coordinator’s Report (Glen Miller)
Glen asks for a ideas as to what kind of donation do we need to give the Underground
Community center for our pot-luck dinner. It was decided that $100.00 would be good.
It was voted on and all were in favor.
Glen spoke of the plan for the web site. It is to have a detailed list of
everyone’s in kind donations and a description of each agencies contribution to the
WCRC and a little bit about the agency as a whole and include any links to that agency.
Glen plans on getting on the phone to everybody before Christmas about their in-kind
donation so this can be available to Kathleen Reilly (CDPHE) as soon as possible.
Glen tells of his experience in monitoring the water flowing out of the Nelson adit.
The measurement on the gage has remained constant at 8.5 tenths of a foot since he began
monitoring last August. About the 16th of November it suddenly jumped to an
unmeasurable flow over and around both sides of the weir. This high flow remained until
about the first of December where it dropped to about 9 tenths of a foot and with a
smaller bit spilling around both sides. Perry Alspaugh spoke that the heavy rains of last
summer may only now be reaching the deep underground flow that drains at the Nelson. Also,
he thinks it might be possible that the adit plug at the 9360 level on Windy Gulch and the
cessation of pumping from that point, might be throwing some underground water over toward
the Nelson. Perry says that since he started watching the Nelson adit (about 8 or 9 years
ago), that every year the flow has continued to increase.
It is clear that a new measuring gage needs to be installed to measure this increased
flow. Perry says he has the record. Eight years ago it ran about 10 gallons/minute
overall. Now it is running about 8/10 of a foot through the weir or about 250
gallons/minute. Perry indicated that this increase of flow has been gradual and not just
all at once. People joked that the Nelson now consists of nearly half the flow in West
Willow. JB noted that a possible benefit of this is that the warm water, (64 degrees
Fahrenheit) flowing into the creek benefits fish by warming up the water. Now if only we
could get the zinc out of it. JB said, that the down side to the Nelson flow increasing is
that it didn’t dilute the metals concentration according to the chemistry he ran a
few days ago.
Gaging Station Report (Perry Alspaugh)
Perry over the weekend, has taken the ink-marks from our gaging station and completed the
record on a daily basis. He says at best, it is a poor record. The margin of error is high
because there were only two measurements in the creek to correlate the accuracy of the
station and allow you to re-calibrate it and bring the margin of error within acceptable
limits. Perry says that we need to measure that place once a month at least, and get a
real shift. If we get the Marsh-McBirney 2000 flow-meter (which we are) then we can do the
shift measurements ourselves. Perry stated that once we get the flow-meter and get
proficient in its use and set up a schedule and stick to it, we can get very accurate
measurements from the gaging station.
Zeke pointed out that this gaging station is becoming increasingly more important for
numerous reasons.
The committee is grateful for Perry’s extra weekend efforts in regards to this
project.
Steve Russell offered to cost out the possibility of a flume in the main channel. Phil
Bethve offered to look into what the USGS could do to help in this regard.
Mark Stromberg stated that Homestake is really interested in the accuracy of that data
and would be interested in paying the $8,000.00 bill to get the electronic machinery in
place that works the record automatically and beams the information up to a satellite.
Perry says that would really be good but we would still need to take the re-calibration
shift measurements to keep the percent error down. It is agreed to work with Homestake on
the electronic machinery and that Perry, Glen, and JB work on a schedule for taking shift
measurements. All this must wait until Spring ice breakup.
Tracer Reconnaissance Summary and Slide Show (Mike Wireman)
Mike put on a slide show that detailed the potential value and data that tracer studies
can provide. The slide show was of recent activities at the Mary Murphy Mine. Mike also
pointed out that from the reconnaissance study that the committee hired to have done in
September, which was conducted by Gareth Davies (Tracer consulting expert), Bruce Stover,
Glen, and himself found that the potential for finding underground pathways of water-flow
looks very promising. There are shafts on top of the mountain that open down into the mine
workings, in other words there are places to inject dye into the system.
Historical Characterization - Eric Twitty Bill (Vince Spero)
The main report is to be in before the end of December and the report regarding the
nomination to state and national registers is to be in by the end of January. Vince
believes that the quality of work that Eric has done is admirable. The committee
unanimously votes to give Eric an interim payment of $10,000.
Karen Hamilton has been promoted to a new position and Peter Ismert is
introduced as her replacement. Various committee members joke that we might not allow her
to leave and that we still have her phone number. She asserted that Peter will do well as
her replacement. The WCRC is very grateful to Karen for the much work and extra effort
that she has done for the committee and she will be sorely missed.
TAC Committee Report (John Howard)
The Sampling and Analysis Plan (SAP) was discussed and approved. This plan will be sent as
soon as possible to Kathleen Reilly.
John spoke of the die tracer that Homestake put behind there plug at the 9360 foot adit
on Windy Gulch. So far, no dye has been found below in the creek in windy gulch which
would indicate that the water is not seeping around and getting into the creek through the
ground. We (the TAC) feel that maybe we should sample the Nelson Tunnel to see if the dye
might be found there.
Glen spoke with Gareth Davies (Tracer Expert) from Tennessee an hour or two ago and
found that he will run each sample for $17.50, that we need to use glass sample bottles,
keep them out of light, and keep the samples on ice for transport, if possible. If we are
going to do the Nelson Adit, it should be sampled every two weeks. Mike advised that we
take JB's advice as of this morning and sample West Willow just before it joins with East
Willow. JB also advised that we catch a sample at the gaging station (top of the flume).
Zeke noted that according to the data, water that came out of the plug is the same as
water in the Creede formation, which is different than the water draining out of the
Nelson. Not finding dye would be as useful of information as finding dye. JB said that the
water under the mountain has to go somewhere. If we find no dye at our sample sites it
just means that the water is going some place else. JB said that if the dye was put
through the plug in August it may already have passed through the system and be gone. Mark
said that they will be looking for the dye for two years but that they don’t have any
plans for putting more dye through the plug.
Zeke asks for discussion if this is an important thing for us to be involved in right
now?
General discussion is that it is a good idea. John motioned that we approve $1,000.00
for taking four tracer samples every two weeks. After analyzing the data, we can then
determine if we want to spend more money on this activity. Motion was seconded and all
were in favor.
Winding Stream Channel (Steve Russell)
Steve handed out a map and report about the work that might be involved in putting Willow
Creek below town, into a stable winding channel. This would be implemented in phases.
Steve pointed out that this would start at the bottom of the flume and hook up to where
the stream is basically stable on the lower end. Steve is offering about $10,000 of
donated engineering work to complete the first phase and wants to know if the committee is
interested. Zeke puts it a different way, why wouldn’t we want this?
Laura Higgins cautioned that the flood-plain has probably not been characterized as far
as potential sources of pollution. She would hate to see a lot of effort go into a design
that might have to be redone based on pollution sources. Steve proposed that instead of
running checks on the entire flood-plain for contamination hot-spots that we first figure
out where we want to put the creek and then check those areas. John spoke of the public
relations benefit this would be to the community because it would show progress on the
ground. JB motioned that we accept and invite Steve’s proposal. Many seconded and all
were in favor.
JB spoke of a stream design issue above the flume to the confluence of East and West
Willow.
Commodore Report (Bruce Stover)
Bruce spoke of the contract that he put out that included cleaning up the debris above the
pipe on the Commodore. He put out the bid to a few people. The only bid was over $13,000.
He wadded that one up and chucked it. Instead, he contacted Stephen Wardell who got a
local Creede man (Mike Mclure) to do it, who did an excellent job for just over $950.00.
Bruce took Hugh Kendrick’s engineering report to the board and they heartily
approved the funding ($100,000) for the large project next summer to fix the stream
channel by continuing the culvert from the pipe to the landing structure and then rebuild
the fall structure. It will be an open channel from the Nelson adit up to the drop
structure. Mike Wireman pointed out that, with this project we have an opportunity to kill
two birds with one stone by designing things so that issues involving possible metals
loading into the stream from the tailing pile are addressed. We ought to determine if
there are any leakages from the stream into the pile.
Meeting adjourned shortly before 4:00 PM
Minutes submitted by:
Approved and accepted:
_________________________
__________________________
Glen Miller
Zeke Ward
Project Watershed Coordinator
Chairman
Next meeting is scheduled for January 5th at 1:00 PM at the Creede Town
Hall.
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