Stills’ and the mayor’s comments, and director of San Juan Citizen’s alliance Dan Olson’s observations seem to have been the only comments of the evening that didn’t hem and haw around what must be done right now: Superfund.

Enough avoidance. Enough $10 million offers, “chump change” as Brookie aptly put it. Such being an insult to the public intelligence.

It’s not up to laymen, however educated, to assess what is or is not a potential Superfund site or sites. It’s not up to citizens or committees to arrange cleanup deals or assess the scope of which hazardous wastes from the Silverton area have been leaking into a large region downstream for decades.

And it’s certainly not up to Congress to pay directly for this current clean up. It is Congress after all that created CERCLA, or Superfund! CERCLA, “provides EPA with multiple authorities to ensure cleanup and payment for cleanup.” Taxpayers are not paying damages whenever possible. And the EPA follows through with monitoring and evaluation. How is this something to avoid now? Or ever?

Remember, this current spill occurred because the EPA was limited by not declaring the area Superfund long ago.

If we in the region, or throughout the nation, want clean water for recreation, ecosystem health including our own and agriculture, we better join together to demand it, speaking as clearly as Brookie, Stills and Olson.

Nancy Jacques

Durango