Utah Drinking Water Safe Downstream from Colorado Spill Site

“I am absolutely, deeply sorry that this ever happened”, she said. “Pure yellow. Like Tang”.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that surface-water testing revealed very high levels of lead, arsenic, cadmium and other heavy metals as a sickly-yellow plume of mine waste flowed through Colorado.

The Christ of the Mines Shrine over the city of Silverton on August 13.

Hennis’ company took ownership of the Gold King Mine when the previous owners were foreclosed on, and Hennis himself has not done any work on the mine outside of what the EPA has requested. Many of these mines were left abandoned or not properly bulkheaded which opens the possibility of wastewater draining into the rivers and creeks below.

The Gold King spill was proving devastating to the Navajo Nation, which recently negotiated a settlement giving it rights to water from the San Juan River.

“This hurts us to the core”, Crotty said. “We’re just scratching the surface”. Many farmers spoke of the Navajo’s spiritual connection to the land. “This river, the San Juan, is our lifeline, not only in a spiritual sense but also it’s an economic base that sustains the people that live along the river”.

The mine water is toxic because it contains dissolved pyrite, or iron sulfide, better known as fool’s gold.

Rep. Ben Lujan, D-N.M., who joined McCarthy at a press conference Thursday, said he will be part of an effort in the Congress to address the long-term implications of the crisis. But locals, believing that Superfund status would come with a certain stigma that could dampen tourism, resisted.

McCarthy also told reporters that the agency wasn’t discouraged in its efforts by media accounts that the Navajo Nation was preparing to sue the agency over its response.

“We have to”, he said. Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said he planned to sue the mine itself and the EPA.

John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, pressed to reopen the river to recreational use during a usually busy tourism period on the river, saying that water quality has significantly improved since the river was turned a frightening mustard color from the mine waste. Instead, they broke the barrier holding the wastewater back, releasing it into the river.

She said it may take designating the almost 4,000 mines that EPA oversees as government “Superfund” sites, which would secure federal dollars to invest in cleaning up the mines to prevent another spill.

Yet the Environmental Protection Agency was intent on ferreting out “widespread soil contamination” from historic mines, even though the town was tested five years ago and no problems were found.

While there must be accountability at the EPA for this bad mistake, it is essential that our leaders do everything within their power to restore this vibrant waterway.

Three million gallons of water (which spilled out of the mine) equals approximately 400,000 cubic feet. Now the state Department of Public Health and Environment has a map to answer that question.

He said understanding the source of water emanating from the mouth of the mine can lead to more holistic approaches that limit treatment costs. The EPA conducted a preliminary review of the data, which included an analysis to determine if the metal concentrations are consistent with pre-incident levels.

It’s hard to estimate the number of people affected by the contaminated river, Begaye said, and the toll on human lives-and livelihoods-is just beginning. The Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining & Safety gets about $2 million a year, and that amount has allowed the closing of 6,127 abandoned mine shafts in the state since 1980. “This is the anguish I’m going through as an elected representative is the denial of information”.