Well, first of all, it's hardly
crony capitalism; there's no
capitalism involved @ all when it's internal government, except maybe for the EPA contractee. EPA has been pushing to 25 years to declare that site a Superfund site, so the person you really want to pursue is Pres.
W hisself. The village of Silverton, CO has opposed Superfund designation, & in fact they're still trying to do so - although they've now apparently seen the sludge, & are petitioning for some kind of federal funding. Although the feds (my opinion) are likely to simply point them to EPA & the normal site remediation process in any event. See
http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28...al-funds-after
"Silverton, San Juan County seek federal funds after Colorado mine spill
"Local officials say Superfund designation is on table after EPA spill
By Jesse Paul and Mark Matthews
The Denver PostPosted: 08/25/2015 11:15:09 AM MDT
9 Comments | Updated: about 9 hours ago
"
After two decades resisting Environmental Protection Agency funds for cleanup of the festering mines that dot its surroundings, Silverton on Tuesday announced it is seeking federal help.
"A joint resolution passed by the town's board and the San Juan County Commission says officials will work with neighboring communities to
petition Congress for federal disaster dollars they hope will address leaching sites quickly."
(My emphasis - More detail @ the URL)
The villagers apparently felt that Superfund status would be a detriment to the local tourist economy - reminds me of the village in
Jaws - that didn't work out very well. We'll have to see how this pans out - but CO (& the mountain SW generally) is dotted with lots of abandoned mines, boreholes, etc. The problem isn't going to go away - well, not by itself, not in any way that we would want to see. The SW US needs every drop of water it can get, for ag & population & what manufacturing there is.
Whatever it costs, we'll have to solve or @ least sequestrate the problems, pending a cost-effective & reasonably thorough long-term solution.
Although I must say I
do like Silverton
et al. now petitioning Congress directly for help - trying to sidestep EPA & the Superfund process entirely. Apparently they're going to plead that
the dog ate their homework, & throw themselves upon the mercy of the court of public opinion. A laugh, because of course
vox populi has no mercy, & in fact is on to the next new bloody thing - the murder & suicide by apparently disgruntled former on-air TV personality in VA being just the latest notice that the public's interest in the mine water release is - ebbing.