EPA SETS PLANS TO CLEAN MINE WASTEWATER

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday laid out the next steps it will take to clean up wastewater flowing from dozens of old mines in southwestern Colorado, including dredging contaminated sediment from streambeds and digging ditches to divert water away from tainted rocks and soil.

The work is part of the EPA’s interim plan to keep toxic heavy metals from flowing into rivers while the agency searches for a more permanent solution under the Superfund program.

The interim plan concentrates on controlling or removing contaminants at 26 sites, including campgrounds, mine waste piles, ponds and rivers. It will cost about $10 million and take up to five years, the agency said.

The cleanup was prompted by a 2015 wastewater spill at the inactive Gold King mine near Silverton. An EPAled contractor crew was using heavy equipment to excavate at the mine entrance when it inadvertently triggered a blowout of 3 million gallons of wastewater.

The Gold King is not on the list of 26 sites chosen for interim work. The EPA said that’s because a temporary treatment plant was installed two months after the spill and is cleaning up wastewater from the mine.

Bat tests positive for rabies.

LAKEWOOD» A bat discovered near Morrison Road and Wadsworth Boulevard in Lakewood on Wednesday was the first bat that tested positive for rabies in Jefferson County this year, authorities say.

Although no people were exposed to the bat, one dog was exposed, according to Ashley Moore, spokeswoman for Jefferson County Public Health.

The dog is current on its rabies vaccine, Moore said. Health workers recommended to the dog’s owner that they get it a rabies booster shot and watch it at home for 45 days.

The rabies virus, which is transmitted from infected animals through contact with their saliva or through bites, is nearly always fatal to animals and can be fatal to humans if left untreated, Moore wrote. Skunk rabies continues to be a concern across the Denver area, with 14 skunks testing positive for the disease this year in Jefferson County.

Already in 2018, Colorado has documented more rabiespositive animals than in 2017, and peak rabies season is far from over, Moore wrote.