A spokesman for the water district informed me that Durango only gets a significant portion of water from the Animas in the summer. “Like now?” I said. I then asked if the treatment plant removed toxic metals, and he replied in the negative. I asked for a report on the most recent analysis of water, and I am still waiting.

Most of the Silverton people want a stakeholder group to handle the problem instead of making it an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund site. This has virtually no chance of acquiring sufficient funds. By the way, Silverton gets its drinking water from a source above the mines.

Please, city and county officials, address this issue now that the all-important plastic bag problem is solved. This is a Durango issue much more than one for Silverton. Bottled water, anyone?

Daniel R. Halseth

Durango