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First Regular Session

Sixty-first General Assembly

LLS NO. R97@0713.01MKD

STATE OF COLORADO

By SENATOR Chlouber;

also REPRESENTATIVE Miller.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 97-36

CONCERNING THE PRESENCE OF THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY IN LEADVILLE.

WHEREAS, In 1980, Congress enacted the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), for the basic purpose of providing funding and enforcement authority for cleaning up more than 1,200 abandoned hazardous waste sites in the United States, referred to as "Superfund" sites; and

WHEREAS, The area surrounding Leadville, Colorado, was designated as a Superfund site in 1983 due primarily to effects on the Arkansas River from mining activity that began in the mid­1870s and peaked during World War II when mining in the Leadville area was controlled by the United States government; and

WHEREAS, The citizens of Leadville and Lake County have worked with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for the past 14 years and spent or obligated substantial sums of money to comply with CERCLA; and

WHEREAS, A $15 million water treatment plant was constructed in 1992 and has since been on­line addressing the discharge from the California Gulch to the Arkansas River that is attributable to abandoned mines; and

WHEREAS, Despite these actions the EPA has maintained its presence in Leadville and increased the boundaries of the Superfund site despite opposition by local residents; and

WHEREAS, Leadville and Lake County want to attract industry, business, and tourism, but the continuing designation as a Superfund site and presence of the EPA has deterred individuals and businesses from settling in the area; and

WHEREAS, Despite the efforts of elected representatives, community leaders, and citizens to work with the EPA, a substantial geographical area of Leadville and Lake County is still listed as a Superfund site, thus perpetuating the community's frustration with the EPA's failure to remove the area from its list of Superfund sites; and

WHEREAS, The stigma placed on Leadville and Lake County as a result of the EPA's continued presence in the area has rendered the county and city unable to attract investment at a time when other areas of the state are experiencing robust economic growth; and

WHEREAS, The citizens of Leadville and Lake County believe that, since a consent agreement resolving most of the EPA issues on the site has been entered, it is time to remove the area from the list of Superfund sites and for the EPA to leave Leadville; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty­first General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:

That we, the members of the Colorado General Assembly, hereby request the Congress of the United States to direct the EPA to immediately remove Leadville and Lake County from the Superfund site list and allow the citizens of Lake County to regain control of their communities, their lives, and their future.

Be It Further Resolved: That copies of this resolution be sent to each member of Colorado's Congressional delegation and the administrator of the EPA.