into animas river watershed that impacts not only la plata county but i'll communities along the river. on behalf of the citizens of la plata county, colorado, i thank you for your interest, your time and your consideration. thank you very much. >> thank you, mr. billy. the newspaper or ugly reference to without objection will be entered into the record. ms. gallegos. >> good morning, gentlemen. thank you for the invitation and bringing silverton to the table. my name is ian toledo and i'm the director for the chamber of commerce. my intention from the opening statement is to tell you who we are. silverton was a raucous, rumbling mining town taken with the pioneer spirit that brought folks out to the west to the discovery of gold, silver and other minerals in the hills and is why we still exist to silverton was incorporated in 1874. from 1881-1882, otto mears build the trained which change the entire area. we still depend on the 100 plus year old train as part of the heart of our summer economy. there are 699 of us. technically 701 because we have babies this summer. 520 of those live in the town of silverton. we get an influx of summer res

our first witness is the la plata county commissioner brad blake from la plata county, colorado. mr. blake's family first moovve to durango, colorado and we're happy to have him in his first term here. ms. gallegos is a third generation silverton resident. and last but certainly not least, we have mr. andy kora, as i mentioned, owner of four corners river sports. four corners is located on the banks of the animas river, which you described as the heart of durango, and has been in business for 35 years. mr. kora will be able to provide firsthand experience for what this spill has meant for the community in the region. thank you for the witnesses travel sog f traveling so far to be here today. mr. blake, if you would like to begin. >> thank you, senators. i appreciate the opportunity, and i'd like to thank chairman bitter as well to speak at the small business committee and entrepreneurship concerning the impacts of the gold king mine spill. my name is bradford p. blake. i am a small business owner and a county commissioner in la plata county, colorado. i appreciate the opportunity

our first witness is the la plata county commissioner brad blake from la plata county, colorado. mr. blake's family first moovve to durango, colorado and we're happy to have him in his first term here. ms. gallegos is a third generation silverton resident. and last but certainly not least, we have mr. andy kora, as i mentioned, owner of four corners river sports. four corners is located on the banks of the animas river, which you described as the heart of durango, and has been in business for 35 years. mr. kora will be able to provide firsthand experience for what this spill has meant for the community in the region. thank you for the witnesses travel sog f traveling so far to be here today. mr. blake, if you would like to begin. >> thank you, senators. i appreciate the opportunity, and i'd like to thank chairman bitter as well to speak at the small business committee and entrepreneurship concerning the impacts of the gold king mine spill. my name is bradford p. blake. i am a small business owner and a county commissioner in la plata county, colorado. i appreciate the opportunity

anmuss river which starts in the mountains bove silverton and flows through colorado and 126 miles through la a plata county and the city of crangow, the southern reservation to the new mexico border and on to utah and lake powell. the mountains above silverton are rich in minerals and metals. which attracted minors to the area starting in the 1860's. mining support companies followed, along with other businesses that developed as the community flourished. some would you recognize. such as the renowned durango silverton narrow gauge railroad. others you might not. but they encompass many different types of enterprises such as tourism-related businesses, including rafting companies, bike stores, hiking and outdoor recreation outfitters, hunting and fishing guides, hotels, restaurants and other related support services. laplata county also has considerable agricultural interests including many organic farms, ranches that rely on the waters of the river to support their operations. and then there are the businesses, as would you expect to find in a thriving community. including retail and grocery stores, real

the colorado department of natural resources was the first to notify the southern ute indian tribe on the release of august 5th. the la plata county sheriff office closed the animas river access on august 6th. the questions we must ask today where was the epa during the initial notification and closure of the river. did the agency follow national contingency plan for notification and implementation of its response on this disaster? did they follow the same requirements that would have been in effect for a private sector actor? was there anyone within the epa with crisis management experience for a spill of this nature dispatched to the area or made aware of the? these are but a few of the questions i hope administrator mccarthy will address today. and in the first few days following the spill it was largely state, local and tribal officials responding. it was not until august 10th that the epa established a unified command center in durango. along with the lack of notification frustration began regarding the need for a timely release of a simple straightforward of the water quality monitoring. no one from the epa attempted to cont