For more than 20 years, the town of Silverton resisted Superfund status, concerned about federal intervention, the potential loss of mining and a longstanding belief local efforts could clean up the legacy of leaking mines.
But one of the more prominent concerns expressed by residents in the small mountain hamlet was that the supposed “stigma” attached to a Superfund listing would hurt the town’s highly tourism-dependent economy.
“There’s a fair group of people in the community who worry that if we were to be designated a Superfund area, it would impact the tourist economy here and result in a lack of lending for homes and businesses,” Anthony Edwards, San Juan County judge, said in 2015.
Yet on Aug. 5, 2015, the town hit a turning point when an EPA-contracted crew breached the portal of the Gold King Mine, sending 3 million gallons of acidic, heavy-metal-laden water down the Animas and San Juan rivers.
The spill, which turned the waterways a bright mustard yellow, triggered emergency responses in three states and two Native American tribes, sending shock waves to those communities that were left scrambling for information.
And it also served as the breaking point for the community of Silverton after the spill brought international attention to Southwest Colorado, ultimately causing the town to buckle to Superfund status in fall 2016.
The Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund site now consists of 48 mining-related sites around Silverton that contribute to degrading water quality in the Animas River watershed. Many of the sites date back to the early 1800s, late 1900s.
But now, two years after the Gold King Mine spill, has Silverton’s fear that Superfund’s stigma would scare people off from visiting the mountain town in fact materialized?
“No,” said DeAnne Gallegos, director of the Silverton Area Chamber of Commerce. “To be honest, we haven’t received any stigma, and tourism has been fantastic in San Juan County, especially this summer.”
Tourism is risingThe two sets of numbers that best support this claim are the town and county’s sales tax – the community’s primary revenue source – as well as property values, a strong indicator of a community’s economic weight.
Silverton Interim Town Administrator Michelle Hamilton said the annual sales tax in 2014, one year before the Gold King Mine blowout, was recorded at $730,001.
And every year since, it has been increasing, she said. In 2015, sales tax revenue was $826,760. One year after the spill, sales tax hit a record $955,979. And this year, the town is on track to have a strong, stable year, she said.
Hamilton said a lot of factors are at play that could explain why sales tax numbers are on the rise, with a major factor being the town opening certain streets to off-highway vehicle use, resulting in an influx of new recreationists.
Still, the fact sales tax has not declined is an indicator the mine spill and Superfund listing has had no discernible effect on people coming to enjoy the high country of the San Juan Mountains.
Kyle Mesich, owner of Silverton-based Middleton Motorsports, said his business, which rents OHVs, motorcycles and other motorized vehicles, has been thriving the past two years.
“For me, every year is getting busier,” Mesich said. “Every once in a while, I may get questions about where the Gold King Mine is, but it seems like most of the customers don’t have any knowledge of it at all.”
Floyd Barela, co-owner of Golden Block Brewery, Silverton’s only local brewery founded in 2014, said his business has been up 40 percent since last year. He said they even craft an EPA/IPA to look like the color of the Gold King Mine spill on the anniversary.
“We’ve had no complaints of people being afraid to be up here because of the EPA,” he said.
Property values upIn fall 2015, a representative with the EPA told a packed town hall in Silverton that when all is said and done with a Superfund cleanup, the town’s property values could rise 18 percent.
The prediction was not well received by residents, who were quick to point out that a Superfund cleanup can take anywhere from 20 to 30 years.
“So I have to wait 25 years for my property values to go back up?” one attendee shouted from the back of the historic Town Hall.
As it turns out, it only took a year to see an increase in Silverton property values.
San Juan County Property Assessor Kim Buck said upcoming property values for 2017, which are expected to be finalized in August, will see the first increase in “many, many years.”
And, coincidentally, most of the highest sales in the county occurred along Cement Creek, the tributary of the Animas River where wastewater from Gold King came tumbling down.
“We haven’t seen any evidence of a decrease in values in the two years since the Gold King,” Buck said. “And I think that is looking at the nationwide economy coming back from the (2008) recession.”
Steve Leisle, owner of Silverton Realty, said Silverton’s market is strong and housing is up. Even taking the long view, Leisle said a Superfund cleanup will only serve to have a positive impact. It shows the town is doing something about its pollution problem, he said, as opposed to not doing anything at all.
“We’ve been stagnant, but now we’re turning the corner,” Leisle said. “In general, Silverton is moving in the right direction.”
Spill didn’t change long-term pollutionWhile things are looking up economically for Silverton, that is not to say there isn’t a serious pollution problem in the headwaters of the Animas River.
But most researchers agree: The Gold King blowout itself, which sent 3 million gallons of heavy-metal-laden water down the Animas and San Juan rivers, has seemingly had no long-lasting impacts, ecologically speaking.
Scott Roberts, aquatic biologist for Mountain Studies Institute, said historic exposure to heavy metals has likely made aquatic life in the Animas somewhat tolerant, allowing it to survive events like the Gold King spill.
There was no die-off of fish or insects in the wake of the spill, Roberts said, and subsequent testing has shown no discernible accumulation of metals in aquatic life.
“I think a lot of people have looked for an ecological impact, but I haven’t seen anyone produce evidence,” said Peter Butler of the Animas River Stakeholders Group. “I think that surprised a lot of people.”
Yet of course, there are real issues that Superfund seeks to address. For example, the Animas River, from Silverton to Bakers Bridge north of Durango, is void of aquatic life because of continual and historic metal-loading from mines around Silverton.
Butler and Roberts agree that if the spill had any effect, it was that it started the wheels moving toward a meaningful cleanup, though admittedly, one that may take years to complete.
“I think the major impact (of the Gold King spill) was that it was a turning point in a lot of ways,” Butler said. “It got people’s attention, especially in Durango, of the metal-loading in the Upper Animas. I’m still giving presentations about it.”
jromeo@durangoherald.com