Rivers Shut Down Over EPA's Spill Of 3 Million Gallons Of Toxic Water

[FSogol]

In Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, towns that are downstream from the old gold mine that spewed contaminated wastewater into a river have shut off their water supplies' connections to the spill. Two rivers will remain closed until at least Monday, officials say.

The spill began last Wednesday, when an EPA cleanup team used heavy equipment to breach a dam at an abandoned mine in Colorado. They inadvertently released water that was laden with heavy metals and contaminants into a creek that flows into a river above Durango.

"The orange plume of wastewater leaked from the Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado down the Animas River into New Mexico's San Juan River," Colorado Public Radio's Grace Hood reports. She adds that seven public water supply systems have been shut off in Colorado and New Mexico.

Water samples taken after the spill showed lead concentrations that were 3,500 times the levels normally seen in Durango. The wastewater also contains manganese, zinc, copper and cadmium, along with other contaminants.

Whole story here:
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/11/431527360/rivers-shut-down-over-epa-s-spill-of-3-million-gallons-of-toxic-water

[bahrbearian]

1. We need to go after the people who profited from Mine.

The EPA didn't create the waste.

[TheCowsCameHome]

2. The Gold King mine last operated in the 1920's,

and the EPA cracked it open in 2015.

Good luck with that.

[bahrbearian]

4. I realize that , I sure there is money stashed somewhere.

At least the heirs can be shamed.

[former9thward]

9. Go to work on that.

[bahrbearian]

10. I already have , found three of them.

[asjr]

3. Poor fish--if there are any left.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

7. Well, the fishing will all be "catch and release" now ...

... so most of the poor fish will not see the inside of a frying pan.

[Baclava]

5. Navajos plan to sue EPA over river cleanup

The president of the Navajo Nation said Sunday that he intends to sue for “every dollar it spends cleaning up this mess” after Environmental Protection Agency employees accidentally released at least 3 million gallons of wastewater, including potentially harmful metals, into a river that breached the sovereign nation’s borders this weekend.

The orange plume of wastewater, which slowly crawled down the San Juan River after gushing out of a Colorado mine on Friday, has already forced many reservation residents in New Mexico and Utah to cease watering their crops and livestock, shut down at least two drinking water wells and required them to avoid the river entirely, said Rick Abasta, communications director for Navajo tribal leadership.

The nation on Sunday also took steps to formally declare a state of emergency for the reservation, warning of potential environmental and other damage. The declaration was waiting for the president’s signature as of Sunday evening.

“The EPA was right in the middle of the disaster and we intend to make sure the Navajo Nation recovers every dollar it spends cleaning up this mess and every dollar it loses as a result of injuries to our precious Navajo natural resources,” president Russell Begaye said in a news release. “I have instructed Navajo Nation Department of Justice to take immediate action against the EPA to the fullest extent of the law to protect Navajo families and resources,” he added



http://www.abqjournal.com/625960/news/navajos-to-sue-epa-over-river-cleanup.html

[TwilightGardener]

6. Way to go, EPA. That photo is horrific.

[Baclava]

8. so, heads are gonna roll?

The head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it "pains me to no end" to see the 3 million gallons of mine waste that has turned a southwest Colorado river into an orange-colored pollution stream.

Gina McCarthy made the comments Tuesday in Washington, D.C., as her agency came under siege after federal and contract workers accidentally unleashed the spill as they inspected an abandoned mine.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/latest-colorado-governor-mine-spill-impact-33013455

[Atman]

11. Of course, Barry Obama is personally responsible for this.

At least that is the take I get when reading our step-sister site and other conservative cesspools. Apparently, someone named "Barry" walked hiked down there himself and punched a hole in the containment wall of a 1920's mine. I'm waiting for the post wherein they say he was just searching for his birth certificate.