I find the duplicity of the government over the recent EPA blunder in Colorado astounding. Environmental Protection Agency officials accidentally dislodged 1 MILLION to 3 MILLION gallons of toxic orange-colored sludge containing, amongst other chemicals, arsenic, lead and cadmium from a closed Colorado gold mine. Information released from the EPA to local communities was slow, evidenced by pictures of kayakers in an orange river. After days the EPA advised residents with wells in the river’s flood plain to have them tested.

 Granted the release was an accident by well-intentioned EPA inspectors, but weren’t the BP and Exon Valdez also accidents? One can distinguish the private sector accidents as being profit-driven rather than the EPA blunder being during the course of protecting the environment, but the end result was the same... gross contamination of the environment. And now they advise well owners to have their water tested? Shouldn’t the EPA be going to each well owner, collecting the samples and providing free, prompt repeated monitoring? Wouldn’t a private company be held accountable? Why not a bumbling federal bureaucracy? One EPA official warned that the sediment from the release could result in repeated releases in storm water and warned that monitoring should continue for some time. Some time? How long is some time? And on whose dime? The victim well owner or the government perpetrator?

 Recently, right here in the valley, we have heard that the CFAC site has contaminated settling ponds filled with similar noxious chemicals including arsenic and cyanide. Though the extent of surrounding contamination has yet to be determined as discussions with current plant owners continue regarding payment and responsibility for the clean up, I was astounded by two recent revelations.

The state Department of Enviornmental Quality, responsible for monitoring the site, did little on-site monitoring over the 60 year history of the plant. Rather, most of the monitoring was self-monitoring performed by the plant owners and reported to DEQ. (I also wonder who was monitoring the cause of the massive tree loss on the south face of Teakettle Mountain.)

Speak of the fox guarding the hen house! How can the same state and federal bureaucracies which are first to blame evil businesses like BP for environmental disasters, do so little to prevent such problems over such a long period of time? Is it more important for guardians such as the EPA to protect us from the yet-proven climate change threat which may or may not have an impact in 100 years and which may or may not be fixable (probably not) no matter how much they try to cripple our economy with new fossil fuel regulations?

I was also astounded by the suggestion of one of our county commissioners that we shouldn’t panic people over possible contamination of ground or surface water at CFAC until proven because it might hurt tourism. Really? There’s a big difference between informing residents of a possible issue with water due, in my opinion, to a failure in governmental oversight and putting up chain link fences with razor wire around the plant and nearby river. Don’t the folks living next to the plant deserve the right to know what is going on and to have the DEQ test all the neighboring wells for free?

Once again, the lumbering bureaucracies of government fail to protect the citizens or worse from known contamination while simultaneously seeking expanded powers to further constrain the private sector at the expense of we the people. As President Reagan said, “The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

Myerowitz is a resident of Columbia Falls.