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H.R. 5511 would give the Interior Department's Bureau of Reclamation responsibility for the collapsed drainage tunnel in Leadville, Colo.

The Bush administration told the Senate last month that it opposed legislation that would make Interior responsible for more than a billion gallons of contaminated water in the historic mining town.

There is mounting concern that high amounts of runoff could cause the blocked drainage tunnel to burst, flooding Leadville with toxic water. Tests have shown high levels of cadmium, manganese and zinc in the water, according to officials. About 300 residents live in a mobile home park just outside the tunnel's opening.

But Bureau of Reclamation Commissioner Robert Johnson told a Senate subcommittee that the administration did not support the Senate bill because it is in the midst of evaluating the risk posed by the tunnel.

"Reclamation is making every effort to make a science-based determination regarding whether there is an elevated public safety risk below the LMDT," he stated in his written testimony. Results of the risk assessment are expected in June (E&E Daily, April 25).

South Dakota tribes seek compensation

Also before the House Natural Resources subcommittee is H.R. 155, which would provide compensation to the Lower Brule and Crow Creek Sioux Tribes of South Dakota for damage to tribal land caused by Pick-Sloan projects along the Missouri River, including the Fort Randall and Big Bend dams.

"They took 22,000 acres of our land and caused 70 percent of our people to move twice," said Michael Jandreau, chairman of the Lower Brule Tribe. The land flooded by the dams was prime hunting and timber land for the tribe, he said, but now "it's all under water." The Crow Creek Tribe was equally affected, he said, because they lived just across the river.

The tribes were both awarded federal trust funds in the 1990s to compensate them for the loss of their land. The House bill would increase the amount of the Lower Brule trust from $39 million to $130 million and would raise the Crow Creek fund from $27.5 million to $69 million.

"It's a matter of giving back to us at least the capacity to survive on our own," Jandreau said. "We're not begging. We're saying that in this America we know, that we [should] be given the opportunity to develop and to live as fruitful lives as any other American."

The panel will also consider H.R. 5710. The bill from Rep. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) would authorize a project designed to deliver approximately 16,500 acre-feet of water per year from the Ute Reservoir to nearby cities. It would authorize up to $327 million in funding for the project.

Schedule: The hearing is Thursday, May 8, at 10 a.m. in 1334 Longworth.