Copyright 1999 The Denver Post Corporation
The
Denver Post
January 12, 1999 Tuesday 2D EDITION
SECTION: DENVER & THE WEST; Pg. B-04
LENGTH: 683 words
HEADLINE:
Resort pushes for right to make snow A-Basin's effect on Snake River feared
BYLINE: By Steve Lipsher, Denver Post Staff Writer
BODY:
BRECKENRIDGE - Arapahoe Basin ski area Monday
continued its push for a snowmaking system, despite environmental concerns that
drawing water from the Snake River would increase the concentration of toxic
mine waste in the remaining water.
"Arapahoe Basin is
not the entity that created the heavy metals in the streams. What we're trying
to do is just exercise our water rights," ski-area chief Jim Gentling told the
Summit County commissioners at a work session.
"It's very unfortunate
that Arapahoe Basin has to bear the brunt of the situation that has been around
for 100-plus years." The ski area, which this season was not able to open until
Dec. 19 because of a dry autumn, is the only Summit County resort unable to make
snow.
By tapping into its rights to 349 acre-feet of water from the
north fork of the Snake, resort officials hope to offer year-round skiing and
possibly lure the U.S. Ski Team to base its operations there.
But by
draining water from the Snake - as proposed under several alternatives being
considered by the U.S. Forest Service in an Environmental Impact Statement -
downstream concentrations of cadmium, copper, lead, manganese and zinc seeping
from historic mines would increase to the point that aquatic life might be
destroyed.
The Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers, the Snake River Planning Commission and Colorado Wild, an
environmental group, all expressed concerns that the snowmaking system would
harm water quality.
"The real deal with this and future ski-area
projects is not necessarily the ski-area projects but dealing with water
issues," said Tere O'Rourke, the Dillon District Ranger for the White River
National Forest. "Whether ski areas make snow or not, we're still going to have
this problem."
Alerted to the potential problem by water-quality experts
at the Northwest Council of Governments, Summit County officials are considering
an array of regulatory options under state law.
"Here's an issue that we
think is a concern to Summit County as a community and
we're trying to make sure you know about this and maybe
we can start talking about solutions to the problems," said Lane Wyatt, an
engineer with the group's Water Quantity and Quality committee. "There are lots
of different activities, suggestions, etc., surrounding this that provide for
county input."
But Harris Sherman, an attorney representing Arapahoe
Basin in water issues as he has Vail Resorts, contended that the ski area is not
responsible for the mine wastes, and that the county has no legal standing to
interfere with the ski area's water rights.
"We are not discharging
pollutants into the stream. I think that's a very fundamental issue," he said.
"We are essentially putting back in the same quality of water as we are taking
out."
He pointed out that other downstream water users - notably the
Keystone ski area, the Vidler water tunnel and two local water districts,
according to state water commissioner Scott Hummer - are not held responsible
for metals concentrations, nor does the federal Clean Water Act require water
users to compensate for unassociated pollution.
"You're right that the
pollution was caused 100 years ago," said commission chairman Bill Wallace, "but
the fact is, it exists, and everyone needs to look at it."
One problem,
however, is that federal law does not explicitly provide legal protections to
would-be Good Samaritans who initiate their own cleanup of contaminated sites
owned by others. Their presence at the sites can leave them potentially liable
for the pollution there.
While the discussions Monday remained amicable,
signs point toward a showdown on water-quality issues between environmental
regulators and ski areas such as Arapahoe Basin and Keystone, which has proposed
its own snowmaking expansion with water from the Snake River.
"We
believe if the ski area, the state, Northwest COG and the county all get on
board early in the process, it's not going to be contentious," said Taylor
Hawes, an attorney with the water quantity and quality committee.
LOAD-DATE: January 12, 1999 
