Leadville, Colo., declares state of emergency

The town of Leadville, Colo., declared a state of emergency on Feb. 14 because the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel has filled with toxic water and is ready to burst.

The mine drainage tunnel in Leadville, Colo., has filled with toxic water and is ready to burst.

The tunnel is one mile north of the Leadville community of about 3,000 residents, most of them working class. Now their lives are gravely endangered. A flood could potentially take many lives and cause an environmental disaster.

The imminent danger faced by the Leadville community is not a new development. It has been a possibility since the tunnels’ early construction when cave-ins caused blockage and toxic water build-up.

In 1943, the U.S. Bureau of Mines constructed the tunnel to drain toxic water out of the hundreds of underground mines it operated in Leadville. According to a study by the U.S. Department of the Interior dated April 2005, the tunnel was constructed to guarantee that the development of mineral reserves could continue. Environmental safety and the community’s well-being did not figure into their thought process.

Following complaints of toxic water seepage into the adjacent Arkansas River, the DOI’s Bureau of Reclamation acquired the drainage tunnel in 1959 to ensure it complied with the Clean Water Act. Forty years later, the chemical precipitation water treatment plant was completed to separate the toxic metals from the water.

However, none of this addressed the issue of the water pressure building up inside the tunnel. Although the possibility of a blowout was well known, no action was taken.

The Environmental Protection Agency recently agreed to pay $1.5 million to install a well to pump the water out of the tunnel—a short-term fix. A real long-term solution would cost an estimated $5 million.

Meanwhile, there are virtually no emergency evacuation provisions to protect Leadville from a major toxic flood. All the Bureau of Reclamation provides is a siren followed by the message, “evacuate immediately, there is a flood coming.”

“This is ridiculous,” said Leadville resident Emily Medina as the Bureau tested its emergency warning system on Feb. 22. “They should get us out now.”

Leadville’s predicament is no accident; such tragedies are inherent under capitalism. Government agencies exist primarily to ensure expediency for the capitalist class in obtaining profits. Ensuring the safety of working people is at best an afterthought; more often than not, it does not cross their minds at all.