from a Feb. 28 NY Times article; click here for the whole story
“This month, Lake County commissioners declared a state of emergency over concerns that rising levels of contaminated water could burst from the Leadville Mine Drainage Tunnel and flood the town.
For years, the federal Bureau of Reclamation and the Environmental Protection Agency have bickered over what to do about the aging tunnel, which stretches 2.1 miles and has become dammed by debris. The debris is holding back more than a billion gallons of water, much of it tainted with toxic levels of cadmium, zinc and manganese.
The threat posed by the tunnel is the latest misfortune for the town, which is grappling with the wreckage of more than a century of mining.
“Everybody made a lot of money in Leadville,” said Ken Olsen, a county commissioner. “They left years ago, and we’ve had to clean up after them ever since.”
Leadville Herald: Leadville commision gets results at Capitol meeting