Udall supports rights for all
To the editor,
Sen. Mark Udall, D-Colo., has been very busy in Washington heading up a task force on earmark reform: “Earmarks are both a cause and a symptom of spending problems.” He has promoted “pay-as-you-go” and the line-item veto. He fought to lower student loan rates. A senior member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, a long-time advocate for reducing carbon emissions and addressing climate change, he agrees with the National Climate Assessment “that the evidence of human-induced climate change continues to strengthen ... across the country ... summers are longer and hotter ... unusual heat lasts longer ... winters are generally shorter and warmer ... rain comes in heavier downpours.”
He also encourages homeowners living in the wildland urban interface to follow mitigation guidelines because the drought, unhealthy forests and climate change enhance the possibility of wildfires to turn into catastrophic mega-fires. Mark and Sen. Bennet, D-Colo., were physically there to help the Colorado flood victims this past fall.
Co-sponsoring the Pay Check Fairness Act, leveling salaries in the work place and empowering women led Udall to found the Women’s Policy Network, ensuring that Washington is aware of the need for equal pay for equal work, and to secure federal resources for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault and stalking in Colorado. (Opponent Cory Gardner opposes a minimum wage increase.)
The National Health Care Law that Mark supports gives women quality, affordable health coverage, makes it illegal to charge a woman more because she is female,
or to deny her coverage because she is pregnant, in remission from breast cancer, a domestic violence survivor, or has any other “pre-existing” conditions.
Udall does not support personhood starting at conception (as Gardner does). He supports the national health care that allows free preventive care and birth control measures, while Gardner backs measures that would ban common forms of birth control.
Gardner supports the federal bill Life at Conception, which gives a fertilized egg the same constitutional rights as an adult, outlaws all abortions, no exceptions,and bans common forms of birth control! This restricts women’s rights and their access to health services. Udall completely disagrees with this! Keep Udall as our U.S. senator! He supports women, children and men!
– Cherry Miloe, Bayfield
Thanks for a day of local celebrity
To the editor,
I want to thank all the folks at Carver’s for making my 20-year anniversary so special. It’s been a great 20 years and I have had lots of fun with co-workers and guests in that time. I am very lucky that I can have so much fun at “work.”
The past week was strange and wonderful; with a Facebook event, and all sorts of “congratulations,” “atta-girls” and visits from folks. Then, it went over the top when I actually made it to the “Top Shelf “(even the headline)! All that, for an underachiever and responsibility shirker, who happens to enjoy waiting tables more than any other job she’s ever tried. I told you I was lucky!
Thanks again to everyone at Carver’s, and to Chris Aaland, for making a breakfast waitress a temporary celebrity.
Looking forward to the next 20!
– Gratefully yours, Pam Marshall
The real buzz on Africanized bees
Dear Telegraph,
I was disappointed by this week’s “Sign of the Apocalypse.” It is true that Africanized honey bees are more aggressive than other races of bees, and that they are often undesirable for commercial and backyard beekeepers. However, I believe the “killer bee” mentality to be a largely media-created fear campaign. This is concerning, as fear of bees may lead people to destroy swarms in a time when our natural pollinators are very much at risk. Bee swarms (large groups of bees leaving the hive in search of a new home) are generally very calm, and bees from swarms are unlikely to sting. As for the misnamed “killer bee,” beekeepers in certain areas where the Africanized bee is more prevalent have learned to work with this race. Africanized bees also have some desirable characteristics, including disease tolerance, that other races of bees do not.
Please do not exacerbate the “killer bee” mentality, as it is largely incorrect. If you are allergic to bees or inexperienced in handling them, contacting a professional or local beekeeper is preferable to destroying bee colonies. The 4 Corners Beekeepers Association is a great resource; there is a “swarm hotline” on their website.
– Sincerely, Anne Hosey
Superfund is not the answer
To the editor,
It may help to clarify some issues regarding the EPA’s participation with the Animas River Stakeholders Group (ARSG) and that agency’s potential to put Upper Cement Creek on the National Priorities List under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liabilities Act, aka “Superfund.”
The EPA has continuously and actively participated in the ARSG since its inception, as has the State of Colorado and the Bureau of Land Management. These agencies have authority to take Superfund “removal action,” but typically it is the EPA that designates a site to the NPL.
Thus far, these agencies have used their removal authority to allow the ARSG to accomplish numerous cleanups of mines that have led to significant improvements in water quality in Mineral Creek, the Upper Animas River above Silverton and – prior to 2005 – the Animas below Silverton. These projects have been the result of collaboration between many federal, state and local agencies, mining corporations, citizens and landowners.
When the stakeholders formed in 1994, the Sunnyside Mine was an actively “permitted” mine and as such, was considered to be adequately regulated and enforced by state and federal agencies. In late 1996, Sunnyside Gold and the state entered into a court “consent decree” that allowed Sunnyside to install numerous bulkheads to stop water discharges and remediate several surface mine spoils. The intent was to reduce acid mine discharges to the point that it would no longer be necessary to operate the then-existing and expensive water treatment plant at Gladstone.
After all terms of the agreement had been met, Sunnyside was released from the consent decree. Unfortunately, soon afterward, several nearby Cement Creek mines began discharging acid drainage that is believed to be a result of an increased water table and a large mine pool captured by the bulkheads. The increased drainage had not been anticipated by the consent decree. We now know that these discharges have offset water quality improvements made earlier through ARSG efforts.
Beginning in 2005, ARSG rigorously developed programs to monitor and characterize the sources of these discharges, to be able to design and operate treatment facilities.
As in the past, the ARSG has relied upon scientific investigations performed by experts, including the USGS.
These endeavors have been supported by Superfund agencies.
Sunnyside Gold and the EPA have developed reports on traditional treatment operations and costs, and San Juan County has researched various ways to establish an operation authority for a treatment plant(s).
The ARSG and the BLM have on-site pilot tested several new treatment methods. With funds provided by mining corporations, Trout Unlimited, the National Mining Association, the International Network for Acid Prevention, and national consulting firms, the ARSG sponsored a crowd-sourcing challenge that searched for “out-of-the-box” treatment methods, which was successful in providing potentially cost-saving solutions.
Still, the costs will be substantial – likely running into the tens of millions of dollars. Because inevitably the public will be picking up a substantial portion of costs, through long-term operations and possibly unnecessary litigation (i.e. Superfund), ARSG will likely remain committed to finding the most practical solutions.
No agency has the funds, expertise or inclination to accomplish all that needs to be done, let alone the ability to attain consensus among stakeholders. At this time, NPL would greatly inhibit such collaboration as it explores litigation of all potentially responsible parties.
Litigation of Sunnyside Gold will lead to abandonment of its willingness to participate. The company has currently offered up to $10 million toward treatment, which would instead be used for legal defense. Once legal action begins, the public is put at arm’s length at best, since data and negotiations are often not open to public scrutiny.
Experience has shown that the public will be allowed suggestions but final decisions will be made by the EPA. This inhibits the ARSG consensus-driven, collaborative process that leads to local ownership and a sense of community stewardship for the resource. Since Superfund has not been re-authorized, the numerous NPL sites are now dependent upon congressional funding rather than the more lucrative surtax on the chemical industry.
With fewer federal funds to go around and Superfund’s restriction that only EPA can manage remedial action, there is no guarantee and little likelihood that listing will result in a quicker or more cost-effective solution. Experience has shown that collaboration among stakeholders has resulted in hard-fought, slow but highly successful projects.
The ARSG approach can maximize funds available for project planning, determination of cost-effective treatment and an equitable sharing of costs. Perhaps Superfund designation will be necessary and more desirable in the future, but presently it will only harm a proven method that is not broken and doesn’t need fixing.
– William Simon, coordinator and project manager for ARSG, 1994-2010, Silverton
Thanks for stamping out hunger
To the editor,
Thank you for all your help and publicity promoting our “Stamp Out Hunger” food drive. The final numbers aren’t all in yet for the national level but, so far locally we brought in over 5,500 pounds of food! Hesperus participated this year and is responsible for almost 440 pounds of that. I would like to shout out a huge thank you to all the wonderful people in our community who came together to make this one of the most successful food drives in recent history.
A big thanks all the carriers (city and rural) that lugged around all that food in addition to getting the mail delivered. It makes me proud to be a part of such a caring community. I can’t wait to do it all again next year and stock those shelves at the Durango Food Bank in time for summer.
A heartfelt, teary-eyed thank you to all who participated.
– Seana Brandon, USPS letter carrier
Bitter truth about market rules
To the editor,
Tom Cramer’s letter the week of May 12, castigating the Durango Farmers Market Board for not accepting the application for his lemonade stand at the Market this year, is misinformed and unnecessarily critical of the Market and its Board. This market has evolved over the past 18 years with rules made by the member-vendors to protect its agricultural foundation. These rules stress “local” and they have always set limits on the number of crafts, value-added, ready-to-eat and beverage vendors. Each year, new challenges and opportunities evolve and the members and Board strive to solve them to protect this “grower market” and the local character of DFM.
Tom apparently did not know that last year the member-vendors voted to:
n Make available one seat on the five member board from the nonagricultural membership;
n Fill available vendor spaces with nonagricultural members in the shoulder seasons (early spring and late fall) and as advisable, to keep the market place full.
Also the Rules and Regulations of the DFM presently state: “… if during the course of the Market season, an Agricultural Producer begins to sell the same product and they plan on continuing to sell that product, then the Value-Added vendor will not be able to sell that product the next market year. Preference will always be given to the Agricultural Producer.” Last year an agricultural vendor sold lemonade that included herbs from their farm and local honey – the rule had to be enforced.
Vendor applications are accepted according to member-vendor approved rules and regulations, not according to personalities or prejudice.
– Kay James, Durango Farmers Market Board Member