WEBVTT

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High in the Rocky Mountains winter snow
and summer rain give birth to a river.

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This high country water flows
through valleys and canyons

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and sustains a vast community
of plants animals and people.

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Without this water modern-day Denver Phoenix
and Los Angeles could not exist or grow

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As water in low-lying areas
throughout the west is increasingly

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contaminated with chemicals
pesticides and agricultural runoff.

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Mountain water is becoming more important.

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It is generally considered
pure safe a secure resource.

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But how safe is the source
of this water although

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these massive mountains that
capture and give us water

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seem indestructible they\'re
actually quite fragile.

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And there are today three critical threats
to water quality in the high country.

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The most immediate threat is mining
a 100 year old tradition that built

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the economy of the Rocky Mountain region but
left a devastating environmental legacy

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a less visible menace and falls from

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the western sky acid rain and acids snow
problems long recognized in the Northeast

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which now threaten the Rockies
for the first time and

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recreational development is today attracting
a growing human population to the mountains.

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Bringing both economic prosperity and a
variety of new environmental problems.

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These threats hidden in the high country
are slowly bleeding a steady stream of

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toxic heavy metals and hazardous waste into
the headwaters of the Western Water Supply.

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The degradation of the water system in the
United States generally and in the West

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specifically I think is one of the
under told stories in America

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Because we have such a limited
amount and that we have

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so many toxic insults that we had started
Lane and wait out here in this great west to

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put into it the Westerners
have struggled over water

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from the beginning whether
it was farmers having to put

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irrigation water on their land
ranchers having to provide water for

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their cattle or the city\'s booming
as they have in recent years.

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And so the sharpest contests in the
American west have always been over water.

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Traditionally we have mostly
fought over the quantity of

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water but increasingly we are focusing
on questions of water quality

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The water supply for most of
the Southwest originates along

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the continental divide and
Colorado\'s Rocky Mountains where

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subalpine valleys between 911 thousand feet

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high formed the watersheds of
four major western rivers.

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The Arkansas plat Rio Grande and Colorado.

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Ken agricultural states downstream

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depend on the pure waters of
the high mountain valleys.

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This is the water that 10 million people in

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the west drink in places as far
away as Los Angeles Phoenix and

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El Paso more than 1 million people in

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the Denver metropolitan area drink
water diverted from the mountains.

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After just one century since the white
man settled the West industrialization

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urbanization now threatened the mountain water
upon which all life in the West depends.

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These problems confront high country regions
throughout the western United States and

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throughout the world but they have reached
critical proportions in the Colorado Rockies.

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70 million years ago the collision of
continental plates forced the land at

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the heart of North America three miles into
the air and formed the Rocky Mountains.

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Pushing upward from the Earth\'s core
molten gold and silver lead and

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zinc flowed into cracks in the granite
and hardened into rich mineral veins.

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Millions of years of wind rain and snow
carve deep valleys in the high country.

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During the Ice Age
continuous snowfalls built

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ice packs that filled the valleys
and grew slowly into glaciers.

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Under the immense weight of these flowing
rivers of ice the valleys were changed

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dramatically as the glaciers carved away the
granite walls and widened the valley floor.

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When the glaciers retreated and
melted away just 10 thousand years

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ago granite rocks of all shapes and
sizes blanketed the landscape.

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Running water eroded the rock into
a permeable layer of gravel and

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sand called an aquifer an underground
reservoir of flowing water

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a natural filtration system that purifies
groundwater as it percolates through the earth.

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The aquifer below ground
and the stream above soon

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sprouted a thin ribbon of life
amidst the high rugged mountains.

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As the glaciers melted away
westerly winds carried spores and

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seeds rain and dust ingredients
of life into the Virgin valleys.

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Over the next 1000 years through the miracle
of plant succession spore became lichen

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I came mosque and slowly grasses flowers

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Aspen\'s spruce and fir established
themselves in the glacial valleys.

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Free flowing streams provided habitat
for a rich variety of aquatic life.

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Beaver migrated into the mountains
built dams to hold back the water

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and created a new niche for birds
insects and other water dwellers

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The beaver is a very integral part of

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an Alpine system because it\'s the
snow rushes off during the thought.

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This is a beaver he\'s out there maintaining

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his dams holding the water back but
it does a lot of different things.

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He stores water so it can be reabsorbed
and come out in another aquifer.

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He saves the erosion on rushed down the
taking away of nutrients and whatnot.

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He backs them up. He\'s doing it
of course for his own purposes.

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But in so working for himself he works for

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all the other people in quotes the ducks.
They aerosols

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Muskrat. He works for all the plants and

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the valley all the great
blog plants penned on him.

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He\'s created dependency
but an interrelationship.

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The best use of this valley is its own
use as high aquifer as a gene pool.

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It\'s its own reason for being.

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And in soul being it\'s useful to us.

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Each stream each valley is like

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a living organism and is sensitive
to changes in water chemistry.

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These ecosystems can
tolerate a limited amount of

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acidity chemicals or heavy
metals exceed the limit

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And the balance of the
ecosystem is destroyed.

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Healthy subalpine watersheds have played

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a crucial role in the human
history of the West for

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the high mountain valleys
and aquifers provide

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a steady flow of pure water
in this otherwise arid region

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As American pioneers opened
the west the Rockies

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became a powerful symbol of the
wilderness and the American psyche.

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The beauty and power of the mountains
were a source of national pride.

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Painters such as Albert beer stat
romanticized the mountains captured

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their mystique and stimulated the imagination
of adventurers throughout the world.

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Beaver pelts attracted the first fortune outers
mountain men the likes of Jim Bridgewater

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and Kit Carson who explored the valleys and
trap the beaver to the brink of extinction.

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And in 1858 prospectors found
gold in the stream beds of

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the Colorado Rockies and the mountains
and waters would never be the same again

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Shipping which we\'ll see later

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One thing about gold is people that are

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just strictly honest on everything
else when they see gold.

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They feel like they should
have some feel unlike

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a gambler gets I guess you know
playing poker and each RVs

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lock in for further big fortune then
narrowly deja Irish nor thought at all about

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environment Genoa and they
thought that they hit

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them you jaw bodies down
there just started town.

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And they thought they\'d be forever
you know and they\'d put up

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a male and just dumped a tailings apnea
hillside that wherever they went they didn\'t

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Build a dam or trying to
contain them or anything

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because nobody thought
anything about environment.

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Miners tore into the earth in
search of precious or working in

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an unforgiving environment
of few struck it rich and

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many perished as they supply the
demands of a growing nation.

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Early placer miners used high
pressure hoses to dislodge

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gold deposited in stream banks later

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gold dredging an early form of
strip mining turn stream beds

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and aquifers inside out to
find small particles of gold.

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But it was hard rock miners who
tunneled deep into mountainsides to dig

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out rich veins of metals who had
the most far-reaching impact.

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After they had extracted
the riches from one mine.

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The miners simply moved
on to another claim.

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Today the abandoned mine shafts
have filled with acidic water.

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It carries toxic heavy metals
into mountain streams.

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Underground water seeps into
abandoned mine shafts and reacts

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with sulfide minerals and
oxygen to form sulfuric acid.

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The acid then dissolves exposed metals
from the walls of the old mine shafts

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and contaminated water flows
out into streams. Color

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we see which is a yellow and orange is a
mixture of iron and manganese precipitates.

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It\'s what we don\'t see that\'s
really more of the problem from

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the toxicity standpoint is the
dissolved lead in copper and zinc and

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cadmium and aluminum that
were mostly concerned about

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from the standpoint of public health and
safety and safety to the environment.

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The state of Colorado
estimates that there are

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15 thousand abandoned metal mines in the
high country of the Central Rockies.

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There are literally hundreds of
minds that we\'ve studied which are

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contributing significant quantities of heavy
metals and acidity to receiving streams.

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Altogether 25 major watersheds
had been seriously affected.

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According to in 1988 report by
the Colorado Health Department

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more than one hundred three
hundred miles of streams in

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the Colorado Rockies have been biologically
damaged by acid mine drainage.

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The rape of the west was in fact
coming in here putting placer minds.

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Putting up minds there was no laws
about pollution of any kind and

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the best way that people felt that

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they could dispose of the
pollution was just a throw it.

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And wherever they happen
to see the handiest place.

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And so the history of the West is a
history of a lot of exploitation

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And an awful lot of feeling on
the part of the miners that

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they weren\'t gonna live here they
came here only to make their fortune.

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A lot of people didn\'t think
that any people could live here

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on a sustained basis and he
didn\'t spend a lot of time

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worrying about how they were disposing of
their various pollution causing items.

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Now that legacy is coming
back to haunt us that we have

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a mind that has not operated since
the 18 seventies over and lead bill.

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That puts a daily dose of very heavy and
very toxic pollution into our streams

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in Colorado for more than a century

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led Ville has been Colorado\'s
richest mining district.

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It\'s minds and smelter have supplied

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a growing United States economy with
a steady flow of precious metals

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Right from the start the riches taken from

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lead bills minds provided
enduring political power.

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The miners were the heartbeat of

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the economy and most of the
western states at that time very

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understandably miners wanted legal protection
of their right to mine on the public lands.

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The United States had just acquired
most of the West in 18461848.

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The United States was as it is now the
major landlord in the West and saw

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the miners went to Congress to obtain a law
that would protect their right to mine

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And the law was passed in 1872.

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It was effectively written by minors.

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It was a Magna Carta for the miners
and it gave them effectively

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an absolute right to mine on the public
lands and it also meant no regulation.

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It was extreme laissez faire policy.

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While most of the profits from landfills
minds flowed out of the state long ago.

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All of the waste was left behind 2
thousand piles of solid waste and

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a never ending flow of acid mine drainage.
The yak tunnel

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built in 1895 reaches four
miles into the mountains

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around lead bill to dream hundreds
of underground mine shafts.

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Though the minds along since
collapsed or abandoned

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tremendous quantities of polluted water
continue to flow into California gulch

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together the yak tunnel and the
nearby lead Ville drain discharge

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3 million gallons of acid mine drainage
per day into the Arkansas River.

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Every 24 hours this wastewater
carries one ton of heavy metals.

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A rate that has been
continuous for over 30 years.

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According to the Colorado
division of wildlife aquatic life

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has been adversely affected for
100 miles below lead bill.

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The Arkansas flows into
Pueblo reservoir which holds

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drinking water for 0.5 million people
in the cities of Colorado Springs and

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Pueblo the important point is that

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these activities this infiltration of
water into minds will occur no forever.

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And there will be a continual loading
of metals from these sources and in

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the future as we get better
methods maybe we may

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be able to go into some of these
areas and better control those

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It\'s been occurring now continuously
in many mines for over a 100 years.

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And for the most part for most situations

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is going to occur for many
thousands more years before.

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Man can do anything about it.

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Another problem was how to control
tailings the finely ground sand

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like residue of the milling process which
extracts metals from surrounding rock.

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Because the milling process was
inefficient tons of lead zinc silver and

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gold and other metals were dumped in the old
tailings piles and exposed to water and air.

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Well the early days tailing
were introduced directly in

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the streams as mines became
bigger and more permanent occurs

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Introducing tailing into the
stream year around started to

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fill the stream beds with Sam deposits.

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So the early approach to
mitigation was impounding those

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tailing the major mines were
well engineered and they

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often had ways of bypassing
clean water around

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the tailing ponds and
protecting the streams but

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some of them didn\'t know a lot
of them are built right along

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streams and flood conditions.

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Some of them failed catastrophically.

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Not all of them were
particularly well engineer.

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For 50 years New Jersey zinc
built up huge tailings piles and

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when the company shut down its lead
silver and zinc mining operation in 1983

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They abandoned 7 million tons of
toxic mill wastes on the banks

00:18:20.450 --> 00:18:24.859
of the Eagle River tailings piles
or geo chemically unstable.

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Over time minerals in the
tailings can react with oxygen

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and water to make the entire
waste pile highly acidic.

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Behind us here as tailing ponds.

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Number one. And there
are several strings and

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other sources of water upstream and
as tailings pond water comes into

00:18:42.680 --> 00:18:46.669
this pond and it soaks down through
the tailings there kind of Sandy and

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texture and it enters the Eagle River
right in front of us here and behind us.

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And seepage is high and heavy metals.

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It\'s also very acidic.

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Ph has been tested along the river here and

00:18:59.390 --> 00:19:02.779
the pH is tested three and
some of these quiet fools.

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But some of the metals that we
find in the seepage coming into

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the tailings pond here iron manganese zinc.

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There\'s traces of lead and cadmium.

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To measure the acidity of water
scientists use the pH scale.

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Normal tap water has a pH of around seven.

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Each single digit drop in pH represents
a tenfold increase in acidity.

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As water becomes more acidic it\'s ability
to leach out heavy metals increases.

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Metals such as zinc and
copper are essential to

00:19:35.060 --> 00:19:38.999
life but in small quantities
beyond the fixed limit

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They are toxic fish or the
environments miner\'s canary.

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They are one of the most
sensitive of organisms to

00:19:47.020 --> 00:19:51.369
the effects of metal mining
pollution were things like lead.

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You get the severe physical abnormalities.

00:19:54.610 --> 00:20:00.039
Loro scoliosis spinal deformities erosion
or the caudal fin and things like that.

00:20:00.040 --> 00:20:05.394
But with an element like silver you can get
severe reductions in growth of the fish.

00:20:05.395 --> 00:20:09.279
Selenium causes severe lesions to

00:20:09.280 --> 00:20:13.959
develop initially around the gills but it
ultimately will spread over the whole body.

00:20:13.960 --> 00:20:21.419
Something like mercury and selenium
will come by our concentrate

00:20:21.420 --> 00:20:24.469
In the tissues and then you end up

00:20:24.470 --> 00:20:28.819
with particularly concerned
relative to human consumption.

00:20:28.820 --> 00:20:32.239
That\'s mine tailings has been
here since the early 19 hundreds.

00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.549
And with some of the pollution problems
have occurred gradually and people

00:20:35.550 --> 00:20:40.309
have grown accustomed to seeing the changes
in the river and they\'ve gotten used to it.

00:20:40.310 --> 00:20:43.459
But now with the ski
recreation industry getting

00:20:43.460 --> 00:20:47.569
started Paypal downstream or having
to use this water as a source of

00:20:47.570 --> 00:20:50.899
their public water supply and
they\'re very concerned about

00:20:50.900 --> 00:20:52.309
the heavy metals and

00:20:52.310 --> 00:20:57.390
the potential health impacts of drinking
this water over a long period of time

00:21:04.420 --> 00:21:09.169
Mines and mining waste from the
first 100 years of human habitation

00:21:09.170 --> 00:21:13.924
in the Colorado Rockies have scarred
watersheds throughout the High Country.

00:21:13.925 --> 00:21:18.750
Goal dredging destroyed three
valleys near Breckinridge.

00:21:19.870 --> 00:21:24.739
11 million tons of tailings
loom above telluride where

00:21:24.740 --> 00:21:29.850
a sprinkler system has been installed to
prevent dust from blowing across the town.

00:21:31.900 --> 00:21:36.349
In Aspen condominiums had been built
on tailings contaminated with

00:21:36.350 --> 00:21:41.070
lead and cadmium has been found
in three water wells nearby.

00:21:41.440 --> 00:21:46.920
Idaho\'s springs central city

00:21:47.290 --> 00:21:52.650
lead them. The legacy
of unregulated mining.

00:22:04.450 --> 00:22:08.209
Was the 19 seventies and
eighties came the era of

00:22:08.210 --> 00:22:12.289
environmental regulation and a growing
awareness within the mining industry that

00:22:12.290 --> 00:22:15.424
serious environmental problems
needed to be addressed

00:22:15.425 --> 00:22:19.489
the Clean Water Act
Amendments of 1972 required

00:22:19.490 --> 00:22:22.609
mining operations to obtain
permits for their discharges to

00:22:22.610 --> 00:22:27.199
streams and to treat wastewater to
control metals and chemical content.

00:22:27.200 --> 00:22:33.184
New reclamation laws required mining companies
to restore land disturbed by mining.

00:22:33.185 --> 00:22:37.969
But the scale of modern mining operations
highlights the difficulty of balancing

00:22:37.970 --> 00:22:42.994
environmental protection and industrial
societies demand for raw materials.

00:22:42.995 --> 00:22:46.639
Modern-day mining dwarfs the
old mom and pop mines that

00:22:46.640 --> 00:22:50.314
put towns like Advil Telluride
and aspirin on the map.

00:22:50.315 --> 00:22:54.333
Multinational corporations
like pneumonic Homestake Asoka

00:22:54.334 --> 00:22:57.094
and a max today move whole mountains

00:22:57.095 --> 00:22:59.509
extracting relatively small quantities of

00:22:59.510 --> 00:23:04.624
valuable metals and depositing millions
of tons of waste in nearby valleys.

00:23:04.625 --> 00:23:09.184
I\'m proud of the climax might
well you\'ve found the our body

00:23:09.185 --> 00:23:14.749
developed. It found that uses for molecular
and through research and development have

00:23:14.750 --> 00:23:17.089
actually created the market and

00:23:17.090 --> 00:23:20.134
the history behind this as like
northern mine in the world.

00:23:20.135 --> 00:23:23.929
Climax mine is located right on
top of the Continental Divide.

00:23:23.930 --> 00:23:29.569
Where at the headwaters of Three Rivers the
Arkansas River the ten Mao River in Angular.

00:23:29.570 --> 00:23:32.599
And we don\'t pollute any of those rips.

00:23:32.600 --> 00:23:36.769
The a max corporations
molybdenum mine at climax just

00:23:36.770 --> 00:23:40.879
above lead Ville is by far the largest
mine in the Colorado Rockies.

00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:46.909
In 70 years of operation aim axes
extracted 460 million tons of ore

00:23:46.910 --> 00:23:51.379
To produce molybdenum a metal
used to harden steel at

00:23:51.380 --> 00:23:53.239
full production climax employs

00:23:53.240 --> 00:23:57.994
over 3 thousand people and processes
50 thousand tons of ore per day.

00:23:57.995 --> 00:24:02.418
But a drop in metal prices in the
990s forced a max to periodically

00:24:02.419 --> 00:24:07.189
shut down the mine and Mill and reduce
employment to as few as 100 workers.

00:24:07.190 --> 00:24:10.909
According to the Colorado Department
of Natural Resources tailings

00:24:10.910 --> 00:24:14.494
from the climax Mill
today cover 1600 acres.

00:24:14.495 --> 00:24:18.079
A max is discharged 450 million tons of

00:24:18.080 --> 00:24:21.784
tailings into what was once a
deep steeply sloped Valley.

00:24:21.785 --> 00:24:24.649
And another 140 million tons of tailings

00:24:24.650 --> 00:24:28.354
may be produced before the
oil reserve is depleted.

00:24:28.355 --> 00:24:30.829
Emacs is regarded as one of

00:24:30.830 --> 00:24:35.359
the most environmentally sensitive mining
companies operating in Colorado but

00:24:35.360 --> 00:24:38.644
the sheer volume of water
and waste at climax set

00:24:38.645 --> 00:24:42.859
y_max and state regulators on a
collision course in the 19 eighties.

00:24:42.860 --> 00:24:46.129
The major problem is the
15 foot snowpack that

00:24:46.130 --> 00:24:49.729
builds up each winter and
melt swiftly in the spring.

00:24:49.730 --> 00:24:54.379
The climax tailings are covered with
snow for eight months out of the year.

00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:57.919
From 1918 through the 160s snow melt from

00:24:57.920 --> 00:25:03.049
the entire valley flowed onto and through the
tailings with minimal control or treatment.

00:25:03.050 --> 00:25:05.299
In the early seventies a max built

00:25:05.300 --> 00:25:09.529
expensive canals to divert clean
water around the tailings.

00:25:09.530 --> 00:25:13.969
Then in 1978 a Mac spent
$8 million to build

00:25:13.970 --> 00:25:18.199
a sophisticated water treatment plant
to remove metals but the plant was

00:25:18.200 --> 00:25:22.204
designed to handle only an average
years runoff and could not treat

00:25:22.205 --> 00:25:23.719
all of the water that flows through

00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:27.184
the tailings in years with
above average precipitation.

00:25:27.185 --> 00:25:32.914
In addition the plant was too small to handle
the surge of water during spring snowmelt.

00:25:32.915 --> 00:25:36.874
As a result the Colorado
Health Department in 1983

00:25:36.875 --> 00:25:41.029
granted a max a permit that allowed
spring runoff from the tailings to

00:25:41.030 --> 00:25:44.509
bypass the water treatment
plant and flow directly into

00:25:44.510 --> 00:25:49.249
ten Mile Creek with more lenient
metal standards during the bypass.

00:25:49.250 --> 00:25:51.289
This meant that each spring

00:25:51.290 --> 00:25:56.689
water containing zinc copper manganese and
other toxic heavy metals continued to

00:25:56.690 --> 00:25:58.579
flow off the tailings and into

00:25:58.580 --> 00:26:02.614
Dylan reservoir which holds drinking
water for the city of Denver.

00:26:02.615 --> 00:26:07.939
If we don\'t have a snowmelt bypass
because of the amount of snowfall.

00:26:07.940 --> 00:26:10.699
One of these dams could
get too much water in it.

00:26:10.700 --> 00:26:13.774
And if that happened it could break.

00:26:13.775 --> 00:26:17.809
Suppose what we do is we have
a snowmelt bypass where we

00:26:17.810 --> 00:26:21.979
take an mx the runoff water with
some of our industrial water.

00:26:21.980 --> 00:26:28.050
And there\'s no pollution problem with no
solution because it\'s diluted so much.

00:26:28.270 --> 00:26:32.839
If you can imagine 300
inches a snowfall right

00:26:32.840 --> 00:26:37.024
where I\'m standing all of a
sudden going all at once.

00:26:37.025 --> 00:26:39.784
There\'s not a problem with pollution.

00:26:39.785 --> 00:26:43.939
A max is permit to release snow
melt from the tailings dumps into

00:26:43.940 --> 00:26:48.124
Ten Mile Creek extended for a
period of 60 days each spring.

00:26:48.125 --> 00:26:51.769
But each year between 198285 a max

00:26:51.770 --> 00:26:55.578
conducted with the company called
an emergency snowmelt bypass

00:26:55.579 --> 00:26:59.104
Releasing wastewater for a
period longer than 60 days.

00:26:59.105 --> 00:27:05.359
In 1983 the emergency bypass lasted
for 7.5 months the ability of

00:27:05.360 --> 00:27:09.199
the water treatment plant
to handle water is

00:27:09.200 --> 00:27:14.044
limited to a certain right the treatment
plant that was in use at that time.

00:27:14.045 --> 00:27:18.289
We had a series of winters
high precipitation

00:27:18.290 --> 00:27:22.279
winters where the amount of
water coming into the system

00:27:22.280 --> 00:27:26.839
considerably exceeded expectations it

00:27:26.840 --> 00:27:31.159
was always assumed that there would
be a snowmelt bypass period.

00:27:31.160 --> 00:27:33.484
In fact that was written into the permit.

00:27:33.485 --> 00:27:38.209
What surprises a little bit
and getting a series of

00:27:38.210 --> 00:27:43.519
excessively wet winters was the amount
of bypass period that was required.

00:27:43.520 --> 00:27:51.520
Epa records show that a max reported 147
permit violations between 197888 releasing

00:27:51.890 --> 00:27:55.654
higher levels of zinc
copper cadmium manganese

00:27:55.655 --> 00:28:00.870
and cyanide and allowed by the permit
issued by the Colorado Health Department.

00:28:00.970 --> 00:28:07.939
There are trace elements of
contaminants in our discharge.

00:28:07.940 --> 00:28:15.184
Those concentrations in most instances or
more than an order of magnitude smaller

00:28:15.185 --> 00:28:21.750
then allowed by the permit which in
turn is driven from stream standards.

00:28:22.990 --> 00:28:29.374
We\'re talking about an area that has been
heavily mined for well over a 100 years.

00:28:29.375 --> 00:28:35.029
And just the natural
runoff of pollutants far

00:28:35.030 --> 00:28:41.494
exceeds any pollutant loading that will
will be generated by the climax line.

00:28:41.495 --> 00:28:44.389
In 1987 a Mac stopped using

00:28:44.390 --> 00:28:48.409
its expensive water treatment plant
and adopted a simpler process.

00:28:48.410 --> 00:28:53.149
Adding lime to the water in the tailings
ponds to keep the metals in place.

00:28:53.150 --> 00:28:56.629
This improved the quality
of their water discharges.

00:28:56.630 --> 00:29:01.549
The mine and mill are now temporarily
shut down and state regulators are

00:29:01.550 --> 00:29:06.619
uncertain about whether this new system will
work when climax goes back into production.

00:29:06.620 --> 00:29:11.824
There\'s a lot of expertise
with that company with a max.

00:29:11.825 --> 00:29:15.844
And I think they\'ve done some fairly
innovative things in the past.

00:29:15.845 --> 00:29:18.949
But again you know I mean
just looking at it as a as

00:29:18.950 --> 00:29:23.269
a facility is a mining waste facility
requires a lot of attention.

00:29:23.270 --> 00:29:28.189
Probably into perpetuity in
terms of word is located and

00:29:28.190 --> 00:29:32.989
the kind of waste we are talking about is
the climax mine is permanently closed.

00:29:32.990 --> 00:29:36.379
A max is required by law to
restore the entire site.

00:29:36.380 --> 00:29:39.364
However high altitude
reclamation is a new science.

00:29:39.365 --> 00:29:41.539
Government regulations are untested.

00:29:41.540 --> 00:29:44.119
One key issue both during mining and after

00:29:44.120 --> 00:29:47.314
mining ceases his protection
of underground aquifers.

00:29:47.315 --> 00:29:50.479
Western states are only beginning
to develop and implement

00:29:50.480 --> 00:29:54.814
groundwater standards and there is
no national groundwater policy.

00:29:54.815 --> 00:29:57.469
In many instances as you
look at mining ways.

00:29:57.470 --> 00:30:01.759
There\'s not a discrete discharge of waste.

00:30:01.760 --> 00:30:05.284
And in many instances they are
discharged into the groundwater.

00:30:05.285 --> 00:30:07.879
And when you look at the history of

00:30:07.880 --> 00:30:12.858
pollution control one of the things
that becomes very obvious is that

00:30:12.859 --> 00:30:17.029
pollutants have followed the
line of least regulation and

00:30:17.030 --> 00:30:22.200
the line of least regulation in many
instances has been discharges to groundwater

00:30:22.450 --> 00:30:25.549
Reclamation laws and Colorado require

00:30:25.550 --> 00:30:29.344
mining companies to cover tailings
with a layer of rock or topsoil.

00:30:29.345 --> 00:30:34.620
Some scientists doubt whether this will
protect water quality over the long-term.

00:30:34.990 --> 00:30:41.179
Purely covering attaining pile with
Earth is not going to stop the flow

00:30:41.180 --> 00:30:46.654
of metals through groundwater or from
precipitation coming on top of the pond.

00:30:46.655 --> 00:30:49.879
And these will leach through pick
up tremendous loads of metals.

00:30:49.880 --> 00:30:52.099
And eventually you\'re
going down into a stream

00:30:52.100 --> 00:30:57.889
So even though things visually may look
much improved in terms of not being

00:30:57.890 --> 00:31:01.429
a sore eyesore in terms of raw
tailings sitting there on

00:31:01.430 --> 00:31:05.404
top of the ground Nietzsche metals
covering it up does not stop the problem.

00:31:05.405 --> 00:31:07.984
There are regulatory controls

00:31:07.985 --> 00:31:11.989
which don\'t let you off the hook
just because you stop mining.

00:31:11.990 --> 00:31:16.234
And in the case of climax
the reclamation plan

00:31:16.235 --> 00:31:20.869
clearly and unequivocally provides
that the company will maintain

00:31:20.870 --> 00:31:25.279
responsibility for meeting
water quality standards of

00:31:25.280 --> 00:31:27.799
well into the future
irrespective of the fact that

00:31:27.800 --> 00:31:31.290
the mind is closed we\'re
committed to do that

00:31:39.550 --> 00:31:43.009
Some new mines and mills like a max is

00:31:43.010 --> 00:31:45.679
$500 million Henderson facility have

00:31:45.680 --> 00:31:49.024
been designed integrating
lessons learned from the past.

00:31:49.025 --> 00:31:51.799
The threat of long-term
financial consequences

00:31:51.800 --> 00:31:54.439
has encouraged some mining
companies to invest in

00:31:54.440 --> 00:31:57.349
environmental safeguards
as they begin to develop

00:31:57.350 --> 00:32:02.550
new minds rather than deal later with
the costly cleanup of toxic waste.

00:32:03.100 --> 00:32:08.058
There is no guarantee that these expensive
new facilities will be environmentally

00:32:08.059 --> 00:32:13.709
sound but they do signal and important
shift in mining industry practices

00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:21.469
The environmental protection
aspect of mining is

00:32:21.470 --> 00:32:25.714
just now catching up to the
actual mining engineering itself.

00:32:25.715 --> 00:32:28.354
And what has happened
over the last 100 years.

00:32:28.355 --> 00:32:33.199
And it is a catch-up game and we are
trying to develop innovative technology.

00:32:33.200 --> 00:32:38.404
We\'re trying to develop
just basic controls.

00:32:38.405 --> 00:32:42.229
For this industry we have
an extraordinary backlog of

00:32:42.230 --> 00:32:46.939
a century and a quarter mining
activities that we need to account for.

00:32:46.940 --> 00:32:51.619
We are talking about literally
billions of tons of

00:32:51.620 --> 00:32:58.609
mining wastes some don\'t pose major threats
to the environment or to human health.

00:32:58.610 --> 00:33:02.359
But we won\'t know until we
go through those billions of

00:33:02.360 --> 00:33:06.034
tons and take protective
measures we are experimenting.

00:33:06.035 --> 00:33:10.669
We\'re trying new regulatory
approaches at the same time trying

00:33:10.670 --> 00:33:15.409
to scramble and regulate long
abandoned mines and clean them up.

00:33:15.410 --> 00:33:19.969
But the task is enormous and the
truth is we are just beginning

00:33:19.970 --> 00:33:27.300
mining regulation in the Mountain West is
best understood as being in its infancy

00:33:29.620 --> 00:33:36.180
There are 50 billion tons of tailings
scattered throughout the United States.

00:33:37.120 --> 00:33:41.029
What might push both state and
federal governments towards

00:33:41.030 --> 00:33:46.324
stricter regulations is evidence that
mining waste affects human health.

00:33:46.325 --> 00:33:50.119
Human beings are at the
top of the food chain and

00:33:50.120 --> 00:33:54.559
heavy metals in fish or in drinking
water can concentrate in the body.

00:33:54.560 --> 00:33:57.049
Studies have shown that lead damages

00:33:57.050 --> 00:34:02.134
the brain and nervous system and kidneys and
causes learning disabilities in children.

00:34:02.135 --> 00:34:06.664
Cadmium has been linked to high blood
pressure kidney disease and cancer.

00:34:06.665 --> 00:34:10.339
Mercury causes deterioration
of the nervous system

00:34:10.340 --> 00:34:13.699
There is widespread exposure
to heavy metals in lead

00:34:13.700 --> 00:34:17.329
Ville particularly for children
who were exposed to lead

00:34:17.330 --> 00:34:20.719
cadmium arsenic and other
metals at playgrounds in

00:34:20.720 --> 00:34:25.140
their own backyards and on
unfinished tailings piles.

00:34:25.900 --> 00:34:30.949
In October of 1986 we became aware of
some sample results that indicated

00:34:30.950 --> 00:34:36.289
that the lead in the soils of landfill
was was very highly elevated.

00:34:36.290 --> 00:34:40.069
And that caused his concern because
these levels had been obtained in

00:34:40.070 --> 00:34:43.834
residential areas where young children
could potentially be exposed to the lead.

00:34:43.835 --> 00:34:48.469
So in in the fall of 1987
we initiated a survey and

00:34:48.470 --> 00:34:53.464
a study of the potential health
effects of lead in inlet fill

00:34:53.465 --> 00:34:56.239
The study found elevated levels of lead

00:34:56.240 --> 00:34:59.044
in the blood of the lead Ville
children who were tested.

00:34:59.045 --> 00:35:02.629
According to the Colorado Health
Department there is a relationship between

00:35:02.630 --> 00:35:05.869
the lead content in the children\'s
blood and the amount of lead in

00:35:05.870 --> 00:35:09.469
their yards children who
ate food outdoors who had

00:35:09.470 --> 00:35:13.549
direct contact with soil and whose
homes were built using tailings as

00:35:13.550 --> 00:35:16.489
fill material tended to
have higher lead levels in

00:35:16.490 --> 00:35:20.509
their blood literature over the
past four to five years has really

00:35:20.510 --> 00:35:23.959
suggested that lead can cause
adverse effects especially

00:35:23.960 --> 00:35:28.770
among young children and much lower levels
than we ever appreciated previously.

00:35:31.270 --> 00:35:34.279
Public concern about the environment and

00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:36.769
potential health threats
from mining waste reached

00:35:36.770 --> 00:35:42.544
a critical juncture in the 990s triggering
efforts to clean up the most dangerous sites.

00:35:42.545 --> 00:35:45.229
At the New Jersey zinc site the state of

00:35:45.230 --> 00:35:48.409
Colorado reached an out-of-court
settlement requiring Gulf and

00:35:48.410 --> 00:35:51.559
Western to spend an
estimated $30 million to

00:35:51.560 --> 00:35:55.219
consolidate three separate
tailings piles into one pile.

00:35:55.220 --> 00:35:58.039
Cap the 80 acre site with
a four-foot layer of

00:35:58.040 --> 00:36:03.169
clay rock and soil and install
wells to monitor groundwater.

00:36:03.170 --> 00:36:08.779
In Telluride a federal judge ordered pneumonic
mining company to pay $50 million to

00:36:08.780 --> 00:36:11.449
consolidate and kept the tailings to treat

00:36:11.450 --> 00:36:14.344
acid mine drainage from
hundreds of abandoned mines

00:36:14.345 --> 00:36:19.620
and to provide equipment to monitor lead
levels in the blood of telluride citizens.

00:36:20.260 --> 00:36:24.799
In 1985 a surge of 1 million
gallons of water from

00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:29.209
landfills yak tunnel contaminated
the Arkansas River for 60 miles.

00:36:29.210 --> 00:36:33.589
Soon afterwards the Environmental
Protection Agency issued its final plan

00:36:33.590 --> 00:36:38.129
targeting a twelv square mile area including
the yak tunnel and the town of lead Ville

00:36:38.130 --> 00:36:42.499
itself for clean up under the
Superfund program which identifies

00:36:42.500 --> 00:36:48.244
studies and attempts to decontaminate the
nation\'s worst abandon hazardous waste sites.

00:36:48.245 --> 00:36:51.829
The first thing we wanted to
do was build a search pond to

00:36:51.830 --> 00:36:55.774
protect lower California Gauss any
Arkansas River from surge events

00:36:55.775 --> 00:36:58.729
Right now we have a filter plant back and

00:36:58.730 --> 00:37:01.819
take out the suspended metals
that are in the water.

00:37:01.820 --> 00:37:04.444
When we get the treatment
plant online we will

00:37:04.445 --> 00:37:07.069
take out an addition that dissolved metals.

00:37:07.070 --> 00:37:12.094
And once it\'s our route the system will
have to remain here maybe forever.

00:37:12.095 --> 00:37:16.384
And we don\'t know that there\'ll be an
endpoint to the discharge from the axonal.

00:37:16.385 --> 00:37:20.299
It\'s been flowing for costs 90 years.

00:37:20.300 --> 00:37:24.274
And we suspected will continue to flow
unless there\'s some kind of massive change.

00:37:24.275 --> 00:37:27.799
In this area the EPA
estimates the cleanup of

00:37:27.800 --> 00:37:30.319
liquid and solid waste
and lead Ville will cost

00:37:30.320 --> 00:37:33.529
several $100 million and
take more than a decade.

00:37:33.530 --> 00:37:37.144
The ultimate results of the
project are unpredictable

00:37:37.145 --> 00:37:40.279
One of the interesting things about
this site is that the more we

00:37:40.280 --> 00:37:43.204
study at the more questions
we have rather than answers.

00:37:43.205 --> 00:37:48.199
I think the real critical critical question
comes and maintaining the long-term clean up.

00:37:48.200 --> 00:37:51.109
Mean we may have the money now
but we may also need money

00:37:51.110 --> 00:37:55.024
500 years from now to maintain the
cleanup that we\'re doing today.

00:37:55.025 --> 00:38:00.919
Well we\'ve all enjoyed cheap Chevrolets
by externalizing wastes the minds.

00:38:00.920 --> 00:38:03.934
We haven\'t been paying the full cost.

00:38:03.935 --> 00:38:10.459
If we want to reclaim to very
high-degree somebody has to pay for it.

00:38:10.460 --> 00:38:14.689
You can pay for it through
prices or you can try to reduce

00:38:14.690 --> 00:38:19.234
the profit of the people who make the material
or we can socialize and through government

00:38:19.235 --> 00:38:22.924
In the long run somebody has to pay for it.

00:38:22.925 --> 00:38:26.329
And we\'ve been externalizing these costs

00:38:26.330 --> 00:38:31.504
when placing them on the
environment instead of ourselves

00:38:31.505 --> 00:38:36.409
Westerners live here
because they keen toward

00:38:36.410 --> 00:38:41.554
the ridge lines and they came toward the
rivers and they came toward the forest.

00:38:41.555 --> 00:38:47.269
The out of doors is a is an intrinsic
part of living in the American West.

00:38:47.270 --> 00:38:53.509
And Westerners today are saying I think
unequivocally that they want that protected.

00:38:53.510 --> 00:38:56.869
On the other hand we are
in a real down cycle

00:38:56.870 --> 00:39:00.379
economically in the West
especially in the rural areas

00:39:00.380 --> 00:39:04.639
and Westerners also want
steady economic growth.

00:39:04.640 --> 00:39:08.464
And in my view the mining
industry is a key part of that.

00:39:08.465 --> 00:39:14.779
We want a responsible growing mining
industry and the American West.

00:39:14.780 --> 00:39:18.439
And what I think Westerners
have finally decided is

00:39:18.440 --> 00:39:22.189
that the mining industry can no
longer be above the law which had

00:39:22.190 --> 00:39:25.489
effectively was for a century
and a quarter and there are

00:39:25.490 --> 00:39:28.789
going to have to be a
host of regulations to be

00:39:28.790 --> 00:39:31.969
certain that our minds are
safe and that they don\'t

00:39:31.970 --> 00:39:36.660
cloud and smear the rivers of the West

00:39:48.010 --> 00:39:52.159
The water quality problems that
began over the last century with

00:39:52.160 --> 00:39:55.759
mining in the Colorado Rockies
today are worsening as

00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:57.559
modern industrial development adds

00:39:57.560 --> 00:40:03.259
a new threat acid rain recently documented
for the first time in the American west.

00:40:03.260 --> 00:40:08.179
All high country water comes to the
mountains through the air as rain or snow.

00:40:08.180 --> 00:40:14.149
Continuing the cycle of water from ocean
to air to land and back again to the sea.

00:40:14.150 --> 00:40:18.919
As Western states grow in
population as cities and industries

00:40:18.920 --> 00:40:24.259
expand the rain and snow that fall in
the mountains is becoming more acidic

00:40:24.260 --> 00:40:27.619
The source of this acid
is sulphur dioxide from

00:40:27.620 --> 00:40:30.514
coal-fired power plants
and copper smelter and

00:40:30.515 --> 00:40:33.559
oxides of nitrogen from
powerplants and cars and

00:40:33.560 --> 00:40:37.174
trucks in urban areas such
as Los Angeles and Denver.

00:40:37.175 --> 00:40:40.234
These pollutants react
with water in the air.

00:40:40.235 --> 00:40:43.534
Sulphur dioxide is converted
to sulfuric acid.

00:40:43.535 --> 00:40:46.234
Oxides of nitrogen become nitric acid.

00:40:46.235 --> 00:40:50.550
These chemicals drift down
wind to the Rocky Mountains.

00:40:50.770 --> 00:40:54.259
Acidity in and of itself can harm or kill

00:40:54.260 --> 00:40:58.729
sensitive organisms and upset the delicate
chemical balance of high altitude lakes and

00:40:58.730 --> 00:41:02.434
streams and acid rain is doubly
threatening in the mountains

00:41:02.435 --> 00:41:07.069
because it leeches toxic metals from
rocky peaks thin mountain soils

00:41:07.070 --> 00:41:10.984
And also from thousands of
acres of exposed mining waste.

00:41:10.985 --> 00:41:14.419
There\'s no doubt that acid
rain and snow are falling in

00:41:14.420 --> 00:41:18.409
this ecosystem and ecosystem is
at risk to acid deposition when

00:41:18.410 --> 00:41:21.559
three things are true and acid
rain or snow or falling at

00:41:21.560 --> 00:41:26.059
the site when the soils and
the waters in the site have

00:41:26.060 --> 00:41:30.049
very little buffering capacity
to protect themselves against

00:41:30.050 --> 00:41:34.744
acid deposition and when sensitive
organisms inhabit the site.

00:41:34.745 --> 00:41:37.399
And all three things are
true in this watershed.

00:41:37.400 --> 00:41:40.399
There are rain and snow
that fall here or acidic.

00:41:40.400 --> 00:41:44.164
The average pH of summer rain is about 4.6

00:41:44.165 --> 00:41:49.684
And the annual average pH of rain
and snow together is about 4.9.

00:41:49.685 --> 00:41:53.644
And those levels are acidic
enough to cause concern.

00:41:53.645 --> 00:41:57.499
At a high altitude research
site in the mountains heart has

00:41:57.500 --> 00:42:00.769
documented and acid pulse
that occurs in the spring

00:42:00.770 --> 00:42:03.739
when melting snow containing
a six month accumulation of

00:42:03.740 --> 00:42:08.239
acidic pollutants floods into
high country lakes and streams.

00:42:08.240 --> 00:42:11.749
Scientists studying snow
chemistry had discovered that

00:42:11.750 --> 00:42:15.589
contaminants moved quickly to the bottom
of the snowpack when the first thaw

00:42:15.590 --> 00:42:19.639
occurs up to 70% of the
pollutants are then released in

00:42:19.640 --> 00:42:24.619
a single pulse of acidic water
that can jolt entire ecosystems

00:42:24.620 --> 00:42:28.549
During the spring snowmelt when
all of the pollutants that are

00:42:28.550 --> 00:42:33.169
trapped in the snow over the winter
are suddenly released into the lake.

00:42:33.170 --> 00:42:37.564
We\'re seeing the temporary
acidification in those lakes.

00:42:37.565 --> 00:42:42.859
And what I mean by that is that the
pH is dropping down to below five to

00:42:42.860 --> 00:42:50.734
4.9 which is 70 times more acidic than it
normally is at other times of the year.

00:42:50.735 --> 00:42:54.379
And when you get PhDs there low those are

00:42:54.380 --> 00:42:57.889
levels that we know will
kill aquatic organisms.

00:42:57.890 --> 00:43:01.579
Well one of the types of organisms
is known to be very sensitive

00:43:01.580 --> 00:43:05.659
to acidity are salamanders and frogs.

00:43:05.660 --> 00:43:07.294
And we happen to have

00:43:07.295 --> 00:43:11.299
At a number of the ponds at
this watershed population of

00:43:11.300 --> 00:43:15.379
salamanders which is in the same genus of

00:43:15.380 --> 00:43:19.054
salamander as the salamander which was

00:43:19.055 --> 00:43:23.524
practically eradicated from the lakes of
the Adirondacks because of acid rain.

00:43:23.525 --> 00:43:26.389
And so we\'re keeping close
tabs and that species

00:43:26.390 --> 00:43:29.749
as an indicator of acid rain damage here.

00:43:29.750 --> 00:43:33.319
Hearts data show that the salamander
population in these ponds

00:43:33.320 --> 00:43:37.084
dropped by 60% between 198288.

00:43:37.085 --> 00:43:39.889
During that period in
years when snowmelt was

00:43:39.890 --> 00:43:44.239
most acidic salamander eggs
did not develop and died.

00:43:44.240 --> 00:43:46.714
The results that leave

00:43:46.715 --> 00:43:52.248
And for the salamander decline represent
the first solid scientific evidence

00:43:52.249 --> 00:43:58.414
that acid rain may be damaging biological
populations in the Western United States.

00:43:58.415 --> 00:44:01.609
Are recent EPA study of
high altitude lakes in

00:44:01.610 --> 00:44:05.119
the West found that two-thirds of
these lakes do not contain enough of

00:44:05.120 --> 00:44:08.509
the minerals needed to buffer
or neutralize acid rain

00:44:08.510 --> 00:44:12.424
and could quickly turn acidic if
subjected to increased pollution.

00:44:12.425 --> 00:44:15.724
Damage could be rapid and irreversible.

00:44:15.725 --> 00:44:20.389
This map shows the regions in the West
where lakes and streams are extremely

00:44:20.390 --> 00:44:25.234
sensitive to acidity they are in the Rockies
the Cascades and the Sierra Nevada.

00:44:25.235 --> 00:44:29.294
These are the areas where acidic
precipitation has been measured.

00:44:29.295 --> 00:44:33.489
Acids snow melt represents a new
and sobering phenomenon and

00:44:33.490 --> 00:44:37.119
the valleys that drain the
great divide each spring acids

00:44:37.120 --> 00:44:40.899
snowmelt floods down from the top
of the Western watershed and

00:44:40.900 --> 00:44:45.264
wherever their minds to separate
problems may be compounded.

00:44:45.265 --> 00:44:50.754
Every major river basin in the state has
mining activities that its headwaters.

00:44:50.755 --> 00:44:56.544
If you have a mineralized area that
is full of all these exposed minerals

00:44:56.545 --> 00:44:59.094
and you get acid deposition audit

00:44:59.095 --> 00:45:02.919
particularly during the wintertime
and terms of acid snows.

00:45:02.920 --> 00:45:04.914
Then this comes off in the spring.

00:45:04.915 --> 00:45:07.659
It is potentially devastating
to the environments at

00:45:07.660 --> 00:45:11.374
Colorado aquatic resources
at Colorado you could end up

00:45:11.375 --> 00:45:18.094
in means parts per billion of metals going
into a stream in the streams just do not have

00:45:18.095 --> 00:45:21.979
the buffering capacity to
be able to tie these levels

00:45:21.980 --> 00:45:26.494
up and there\'s gonna be some very
serious toxic effects downstream.

00:45:26.495 --> 00:45:29.599
Cutthroat trout is another
species that is extremely

00:45:29.600 --> 00:45:32.764
sensitive to changes in
acidity and chemical balance.

00:45:32.765 --> 00:45:37.819
Many species of trout spawn in the spring
at the same time that acid snowmelt floods

00:45:37.820 --> 00:45:42.829
downstream acidic water interferes with
a delicate process of reproduction.

00:45:42.830 --> 00:45:47.749
At pH. 5.5 fish eggs do not
develop normally newly had

00:45:47.750 --> 00:45:53.790
trout begin to die off and full-grown
female trout may be unable to produce eggs.

00:45:57.670 --> 00:46:03.049
With fishermen contributing $600 million
per year to the Colorado economy.

00:46:03.050 --> 00:46:08.610
Acid rain is now a direct threat to one
of the region\'s major sources of income.

00:46:09.130 --> 00:46:13.309
The West is the fastest growing
region in the United States and

00:46:13.310 --> 00:46:16.729
EPA projects that by the year 2010 from

00:46:16.730 --> 00:46:20.539
powerplants alone emissions of
sulfur dioxide may increase

00:46:20.540 --> 00:46:24.829
by 50% and oxides of nitrogen by 100%.

00:46:24.830 --> 00:46:27.934
Other sources will add further increases.

00:46:27.935 --> 00:46:31.834
We should listen to nature is
warning signals and pay attention

00:46:31.835 --> 00:46:36.064
given the fact that we are
already observing damage

00:46:36.065 --> 00:46:40.174
the initial stages of acidification
in our country likes.

00:46:40.175 --> 00:46:43.639
If we put them much more new
pollution and we\'re gonna see

00:46:43.640 --> 00:46:49.249
significantly greater effects has concern for
the health of the global environment grows.

00:46:49.250 --> 00:46:54.319
The era of indiscriminate dumping of waste
into water and air may be coming to an end.

00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:59.569
Throughout the world mankind is fast learning
that quality of life depends on quality of

00:46:59.570 --> 00:47:02.269
the environment that long-term economic

00:47:02.270 --> 00:47:06.409
health is inseparable from
clean water and clean air

00:47:06.410 --> 00:47:09.679
This truth is reflected in
the economic transition.

00:47:09.680 --> 00:47:14.719
Now underway in the Rocky Mountains the
old extractive industries and the economy

00:47:14.720 --> 00:47:20.359
based on mining is slowly giving way to an
economy based on recreation and tourism.

00:47:20.360 --> 00:47:25.534
The tourism industry is now worth over
$70 billion a year to western states.

00:47:25.535 --> 00:47:30.349
The state of Colorado alone estimates
that tourism now generates $5.6

00:47:30.350 --> 00:47:32.944
billion annually for the state\'s economy

00:47:32.945 --> 00:47:36.840
compared to just $1 billion
per year from mining.

00:47:38.380 --> 00:47:42.604
In Colorado Rockies indeed and
much of the Inner Mountain West.

00:47:42.605 --> 00:47:44.659
We\'ve traditionally believed
that we have to have

00:47:44.660 --> 00:47:48.109
these mines because they are
the basis of our economy.

00:47:48.110 --> 00:47:52.279
What they have given us is an
economy of boom and bust of

00:47:52.280 --> 00:47:57.199
towns that flare up destroy their little
part of the land and then disappear.

00:47:57.200 --> 00:48:01.534
And we have ghost towns all across the
west from the old silver and gold days.

00:48:01.535 --> 00:48:03.799
Lead bill down below the molybdenum.

00:48:03.800 --> 00:48:07.729
Mine is looking to a new
kind of economic development

00:48:07.730 --> 00:48:12.589
realizing that that mine is not a sustainable
basis for the people who live there.

00:48:12.590 --> 00:48:14.314
They\'re turning to tourism.

00:48:14.315 --> 00:48:19.369
Now to some extent tourists like quaint
little mining buildings tourists do not

00:48:19.370 --> 00:48:24.409
like major scars on the land poisoned
water crud in the air blowing around.

00:48:24.410 --> 00:48:29.269
Tourists are coming to the Colorado
Rockies because of its beauty because of

00:48:29.270 --> 00:48:33.019
It\'s unspoiled nature because it\'s a
place where they can retreat from

00:48:33.020 --> 00:48:37.399
the over industrialized cities
places where they live and

00:48:37.400 --> 00:48:42.754
work that I think is a much firmer basis for
an economy for the inner mountain west.

00:48:42.755 --> 00:48:46.339
Then the boom bust of the
mining wilderness is

00:48:46.340 --> 00:48:49.759
not just the pie in the
sky the environmental

00:48:49.760 --> 00:48:52.969
crazies who just want to keep
it the way it is because it

00:48:52.970 --> 00:48:56.599
looks nicer that talk about
the biological values.

00:48:56.600 --> 00:48:58.669
Of course those things
are important but this

00:48:58.670 --> 00:49:01.129
is a real economic resource
for this community.

00:49:01.130 --> 00:49:02.584
We do sell scenery.

00:49:02.585 --> 00:49:06.949
We do eat scenery will say you
can\'t but we do eat scenery and

00:49:06.950 --> 00:49:08.929
you can measure it in the cash registers to

00:49:08.930 --> 00:49:11.629
the restaurants and grocery
stores and that lodging

00:49:11.630 --> 00:49:14.959
That existing crested Butte
the town of crested Butte is

00:49:14.960 --> 00:49:19.669
experiencing this sometimes painful
sometimes divisive economic transition.

00:49:19.670 --> 00:49:22.399
A former mining town crested Butte now has

00:49:22.400 --> 00:49:26.449
a rapidly growing ski resort and
a mountain full of molybdenum in

00:49:26.450 --> 00:49:30.079
the late 19 seventies the community
battled against plans to mine

00:49:30.080 --> 00:49:35.209
the rich molybdenum deposit in Mount
Emmons which rises just west of town.

00:49:35.210 --> 00:49:38.989
We wanted to make sure that this
special place wasn\'t turned into

00:49:38.990 --> 00:49:43.084
another slime pit and turned
into another boom bust town.

00:49:43.085 --> 00:49:47.989
We also fought this battle very much as an
economic battle and it was a positive battle.

00:49:47.990 --> 00:49:49.609
It was something that we were four.

00:49:49.610 --> 00:49:51.589
We were for the economy of this town

00:49:51.590 --> 00:49:53.764
There are too many towns
in America that are

00:49:53.765 --> 00:49:56.914
unhealthy economically and
we had full employment.

00:49:56.915 --> 00:49:59.449
We had a good economic base
that was Recreation and

00:49:59.450 --> 00:50:03.529
Tourism with the agriculture that
surrounds us and that was education.

00:50:03.530 --> 00:50:06.469
And at least two of those three pieces

00:50:06.470 --> 00:50:10.009
the recreation and tourism in the
agriculture business was threatened

00:50:10.010 --> 00:50:17.824
severely by the prospect of huge
dramatic scale mining max proposed.

00:50:17.825 --> 00:50:21.139
And I think the third issue really
had to do with our responsibility

00:50:21.140 --> 00:50:26.059
to to think globally and act locally

00:50:26.060 --> 00:50:29.509
But think about the future of this
planet where it\'s going to go.

00:50:29.510 --> 00:50:34.609
Are we going to continue to destroy the last
special places the last wilderness areas

00:50:34.610 --> 00:50:38.269
the last aquifers subalpine valleys

00:50:38.270 --> 00:50:42.889
that produced not only water
but biological diversity.

00:50:42.890 --> 00:50:47.269
Or we\'re going to show some responsibility
and say to a mining company.

00:50:47.270 --> 00:50:49.969
Finally no this is not just yours.

00:50:49.970 --> 00:50:51.469
This belongs to all of American.

00:50:51.470 --> 00:50:54.079
We\'re going to find the highest
and best use for this area.

00:50:54.080 --> 00:50:57.709
In 1981 faced with the falling
price of molybdenum and

00:50:57.710 --> 00:51:02.989
strong community opposition aim acts withdrew
its plan for a mine at crested Butte.

00:51:02.990 --> 00:51:05.479
However several mining companies are still

00:51:05.480 --> 00:51:08.179
developing plans to mine
mount Emmons molybdenum

00:51:08.180 --> 00:51:12.109
Sometime in the future
meanwhile the ski resort

00:51:12.110 --> 00:51:16.429
continues to grow and crested Butte along
with other mountain communities is

00:51:16.430 --> 00:51:18.469
quickly learning that the development of

00:51:18.470 --> 00:51:21.799
recreational areas and the
high country is itself not

00:51:21.800 --> 00:51:28.650
without cost for it to damages subalpine
ecosystems and diminishes water quality.

00:51:31.000 --> 00:51:34.894
There are now 27 ski resorts in Colorado

00:51:34.895 --> 00:51:38.374
many with their base of
operations in subalpine valleys

00:51:38.375 --> 00:51:42.499
Tourism to is an industry that
will leave a legacy of its own.

00:51:42.500 --> 00:51:45.739
We will have to be more vigilant than we

00:51:45.740 --> 00:51:49.219
have been in the past in order
to protect the environment and

00:51:49.220 --> 00:51:53.569
especially the water quality from
the sheer numbers of people that

00:51:53.570 --> 00:51:58.459
are living here permanently using
these areas as second homes and

00:51:58.460 --> 00:52:01.399
recreating on a transient basis both

00:52:01.400 --> 00:52:04.999
summer and winter and it\'s
it\'s really growth is really

00:52:05.000 --> 00:52:08.149
people that are the greatest threats
and what are the people who are

00:52:08.150 --> 00:52:12.499
minors or recreationists
skiers voters fishermen.

00:52:12.500 --> 00:52:13.849
It doesn\'t make any difference.

00:52:13.850 --> 00:52:16.699
They still will impact hierarchies in

00:52:16.700 --> 00:52:21.420
a degree that I don\'t think
we\'ve yet to cup or a hand

00:52:21.610 --> 00:52:27.139
We want more tourists but at some
point that fragile ecosystem out

00:52:27.140 --> 00:52:32.119
here is going to have to present us
with some serious management problems.

00:52:32.120 --> 00:52:38.209
We\'re going to have to make sure for instance
that they whether it\'s the pollution from

00:52:38.210 --> 00:52:41.569
the ski area or whether or not it\'s
just simply the roads we cut through

00:52:41.570 --> 00:52:47.010
these mountains that they are done with a
maximum of environmental consciousness

00:53:05.140 --> 00:53:08.479
We still have in the subalpine valleys of

00:53:08.480 --> 00:53:13.890
the Rocky Mountains pristine natural
reservoirs of water for the arid West.

00:53:13.930 --> 00:53:16.714
But these are limited resources.

00:53:16.715 --> 00:53:20.179
The number of valleys is finite
and many have already been

00:53:20.180 --> 00:53:24.049
destroyed without pure mountain
water western cities and

00:53:24.050 --> 00:53:26.869
agriculture cannot survive water in

00:53:26.870 --> 00:53:32.550
low-lying areas of the west already carries
a heavy load of salts and pollutants.

00:53:32.830 --> 00:53:37.909
But how can further degradation of
Western air and water be minimized

00:53:37.910 --> 00:53:43.039
what actions can be taken by individuals and
communities corporations and government

00:53:43.040 --> 00:53:46.980
to preserve and restore
high country watersheds.

00:53:47.320 --> 00:53:52.639
There are ways to protect the water
ranging from national legislation to

00:53:52.640 --> 00:53:57.199
stop both acid rain and groundwater
contamination to strict enforcement of

00:53:57.200 --> 00:54:00.559
existing regulations and
increased funding to clean up

00:54:00.560 --> 00:54:04.669
toxic waste sites from the
recycling of scarce metals and

00:54:04.670 --> 00:54:08.749
the efficient use of energy to research
which will help us better understand

00:54:08.750 --> 00:54:13.459
subalpine valleys that aquifers
and they\'re sensitive ecosystems.

00:54:13.460 --> 00:54:16.924
The movement for change starts
with the realization that

00:54:16.925 --> 00:54:20.554
air and water quality
problems no no boundaries.

00:54:20.555 --> 00:54:23.389
Poison in the Rockies threatens us all.

00:54:23.390 --> 00:54:25.369
We all live downwind

00:54:25.370 --> 00:54:28.320
And we all live downstream.

00:54:43.060 --> 00:54:51.060
But finds is

00:54:51.465 --> 00:54:56.640
the between

00:54:59.650 --> 00:55:02.550
and the brake.

00:55:09.670 --> 00:55:16.200
It\'s gone. Nes today.

00:55:27.370 --> 00:55:30.750
Is very difficult