dr. williamson.before we go to questions, i'd like to recognize the gentleman from new mexico, steve pierce, who obviously has an interest in the subject at hand, and we welcome him to the committee today. mr. stanislaus, let me direct my first question to you. on august 26, stan maiberg told reporters that there was no evidence to suggest that precautionary measures were needed. however, i'd like to show you two documents on the screens, first is a 2014 epa task order, and the second is your own contractor's work plan from 2015. both documents described the potentially dangerous conditions at the mine and specifically both state, and because the print is so small i'll read it on this power point, conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine which contain heavy concentrated metals, end quote. i'd like to go to the second power point slide and this reads, this is from the internal epa e-mail t

dr. williamson.before we go to questions, i'd like to recognize the gentleman from new mexico, steve pierce, who obviously has an interest in the subject at hand, and we welcome him to the committee today. mr. stanislaus, let me direct my first question to you. on august 26, stan maiberg told reporters that there was no evidence to suggest that precautionary measures were needed. however, i'd like to show you two documents on the screens, first is a 2014 epa task order, and the second is your own contractor's work plan from 2015. both documents described the potentially dangerous conditions at the mine and specifically both state, and because the print is so small i'll read it on this power point, conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine which contain heavy concentrated metals, end quote. i'd like to go to the second power point slide and this reads, this is from the internal epa e-mail t

dr. williamson? >> i would ultimately like to rely on more detail evaluations. i it was, in fact, holding back quite a lot of water at this point and there are other locations within the district that i'm aware of that act as opportunities for releasing pressure. so, it remains to be seen. it would have to be forecast with a little more certainly, i think. >> thank you all. and the gentleman is recognized. >> thank you, mr. chairman. >> how did epa come to be involved with waste water leakage? >> it began when the american tunnel got plugged. this is a permit issued by the state of colorado, that resulted in water increasing, and then the gold king mine. subsequently water seeps went into cement creek and animus river. they asked the epa to get involved in the flow of animus river as well as the cave-ins at gold king mine. >> no, i've heard the installation of the last bulk head at the american tunnel in 2002 may have been a superseding cause. to the blowout on august 5th. can you please describe the

dr. williamson. before we go to questions, i'd e like tsto recognize the gentlem from new mexico, steve pierce, o who obviously has an interest in the subject at hand and we ect a welcome him to the committee today. >> mr. stanislaus, let me direct my first question to you. on august 26th epa deputy told , us on a conference call that there was, quote, no evidence t suggest that precautionary ecaui measures were onneeded.were however, i'd like to show you i two documents on the screens. the first is a 2014 epa task order and the second is your own contractor's work plan from 2015. both documents describe the potentially dangerous conditios at the mine and specifically c both state, and because the print is so small i'll read it, on this powerpoint, conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine co which contain concentrated heavn metals, end quote. i'd like to go to the second g powerpoint slid

dr. williamson. to confess, i would like to recognize the gentleman from new mexico, steve pearce, who obviously has an interest in the subject at hand and we welcome him to the committee today. let me direct my first question to you. stan myberg there was, quote, no evidence to suggest precautionary measures were needed. however, i would like to show you two documents on the streen. the first is a 2014 epa task order and the second is your own contractor's work plan from 2015. both documents describe the potentially dangerous conditions at the mine and specifically both state, and because the print is so small, i'll read it. on this powerpoint, conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine which contain concentrated heavy metals, end quote. would like to go to a second power point slide. this is from the internal epa e-mail that appears to address the dangers at the mine. the mine is assumed

dr. williamson, but i'd like to ask some other questions, because i think dr. a benn, you suggested some things that the epa should consider inn the short term and in the long term, one was help you with some monitoring devices to keep an eye on things. help the farmers and ranchers who may have been impacted. am i right about that? >> yes, sir. there's only discussion as a nation right now. within your, your own nation. you're not talking to the epa. yes, sir. okay, i asked that badly. so, you're, is the nation speaking to the epa about potential ways that the epa and the united states could help the nation? >> as i explained to you, this whole situation can be tackled all at once. that there's three parts. there's the spill. the reaction to the spill and the coordination, the collaboration with epa. we're in that stage right now. they are working with us, but to a certain degree. >> i'd like to have the first slide, showing where the gold king mine is. the other one, sorry. can you describe the area where this gold king mine is and approximately how many mine