Apple Tree water quality meeting set for May 18

By James Steindler

Contributing Editor

Apple Tree Trailer Park, outside of New Castle, is home to several families which make up its small community. With a little push from a regional community organizing nonprofit, residents have begun to organize and advocate for their shared needs.

VOCES Unidas de las Montañas “is an advocacy organization that works to elevate the voices of Latinos and Latinas here in the Valley,” said Alan Muñoz Valenciano, regional manager of organizing for the Greater Roaring Fork Valley.

Having grown up in the area, Valenciano said he’s known about the water quality issues in Apple Tree for years. “For VOCES, it really started in 2021-2022 when folks let us know how prevalent of an issue it actually was and the specific ways it was impacting residents,” he shared. “Not only does the water come out brown or yellow or red sometimes, but residents don’t use their water to do any sort of cooking, cleaning, drinking — anything of that sort.”

He added that there have been reports of appliances being replaced two to three times faster due to the “hard” quality of the water.

As a grassroots organization, VOCES focuses on building community. Valenciano said there is an inherent power-dynamic between residents and landlords. Individually, people might feel intimidated to approach issues, such as water quality, for fear of retaliation.

VOCES facilitates meetings where community members can gather, air their opinions and develop “next steps” themselves, along with some coaching from the organization.

Many residents of Apple Tree have taken to organizing amid VOCES’ efforts. As Valenciano put it, “The residents themselves are mobilizing and they want to see a change.”

While VOCES is primarily concerned with elevating Latino communities, that’s not exclusively the case. “It really is marginalized folks, which tend to be people who live in mobile home parks,” he noted.

In fact, on May 3, there was a community meeting in Apple Tree that covered a slew of topics, including how to support House Bill 23-1257 Mobile Home Park Water Quality (HB 23-1257).

VOCES worked closely on HB 23-1257, of which House District 57 Representative Elizabeth Velasco is a primary sponsor. The bill “will set the foundation … to make sure that we raise the water quality standards in Colorado, so no one is subject to brown, yellow or red water coming out of their sink,” stated Valenciano.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) considers aspects such as the color, odor and taste of water as secondary standards. “It’s essentially the state saying this water is safe to drink, when, in reality, no one drinks it,” he explained.

HB 23-1257 passed the house and the senate and is awaiting Governor Jared Polis’ signature.

To learn more about mobile home park water quality issues statewide, and what’s being done, visit www.cleanwaterforallco.org

Valenciano acknowledged that VOCES has not been in touch with the owners of the park directly at this point. “Right now, that isn’t necessarily what we want to focus on. Our priority is the residents and making sure the residents have what they need to advocate for themselves…”

Management explains its efforts

The Sopris Sun reached out to the Investment Property Group UT, Inc. (IPG), which manages Apple Tree. IPG is registered as a foreign corporation based out of Park City, Utah. Apple Tree MHC, LLC, owns the park and has a principal mailing address out of Irvine,

California, according to the Colorado Secretary of State website.

“IPG acquired Apple Tree in late November of 2020 and became aware of residents’ concerns in April of 2021,” an IPG spokesperson told The Sopris Sun. “We have been working in partnership with Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s (CDPHE) Water Quality Division since then to assure the water quality meets all state and federal clean drinking water regulations, and to minimize any aesthetic issues caused by the mineral content of the water.”

IPG gave a timeline of its efforts to address water quality in the park. In May 2022, “CDPHE performed an in-depth system inspection and reaffirmed that the water meets all state and federal clean drinking water regulations, but identified aesthetic issues associated with slightly elevated levels of iron, manganese and hardness.” In July, the management company began monthly testing of the water’s manganese levels.

The monthly manganese levels within the distribution system fluctuate between .049 milligrams per liter (mg/l) and .073 mg/l, according to the spokesperson. The EPA’s advisory level is .3 mg/l.

In August 2022, IPG “refined the flushing procedures to minimize mineral build up within the system and to help reduce any instances of discoloration.” In September, IPG began discussions with an engineering firm around treatment options for iron, hardness and manganese. In December, IPG sent flushing notices to residents in English and Spanish with more details about the process, and began discussions with the Garfield County Department of Health in regards to resident outreach and education.

In January of this year, IPG “joined Garfield County Public Health and CDPHE Enforcement and Social/ continues on page 18