After EPA staff and contractors spilled 3 million gallons of toxic mining wastewater into a river system in Colorado last month, the agency is facing intense criticism on Capitol Hill.

Democratic Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico sat in on both hearings and made statements criticizing the EPA for unleashing toxic wastewater that flowed into New Mexico and three other states. A Superfund designation would make federal funds available for a massive cleanup project around Silverton.

And she said she hoped her colleagues don’t turn the hearing into a “finger-pointing deal” to target the EPA.

In the first panel hearing on the issue, Texas Rep. Lamar Smith, the top Republican on the House Science Committee, called the spill that has affected Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and the Navajo Nation an “inexcusable” event. Recognizing that water and sediment are now being maintained at pre-existing conditions, the agency will be scaling down the Incident Command Post in Durango, CO, and transitioning to a long-term operational plan that can be supported by the agency’s Regional Offices.

“The treatment plant is a contingency option”, Grantham said.

A private-sector company would be told to do exactly what the EPA is doing, McCarthy responded.

But Flynn said the EPA’s warning about the pollution came belatedly, and it was followed by incomplete testing data presented in a way that minimized the presence of contaminants above drinking-water standards.

Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., was among those who requested Wednesday’s hearing, and he later told the Herald the EPA is still short on answers. “The facts will speak for themselves as to what is warranted”.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy testifies before a Senate panel on Wednesday, September 16 on the EPA’s role in the Gold King Mine blowout.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye testified later Thursday that the EPA mishandled the cleanup, causing the spill, and mismanaged the response. “Given these facts, it is unclear why the EPA and the contractor did not excersie more care when working at the Gold King Site”, Inhofe said. “Unfortunately, this didn’t provide enough certainty and hasn’t encouraged action”.

McCarthy repeated that the agency was being held accountable, but wouldn’t go after individuals involved in the spill until after the Interior Department has completed its report on the spill.

There was no cellphone coverage at the remote site in the San Juan Mountains, and the workers did not have a satellite phone, according to EPA documents.

“We were trying to get a handle on a situation that was growing increasingly risky “, McCarthy said. He said the agency’s response lacks transparency and creates mistrust. That’s over 100 times more pollution than the Gold King spill. Some of the mines were abandoned decades ago and have grown more unstable over time, raising the risk of an accident.

Supporters of the idea are concerned, these groups could be held liable for the cleanup and its aftermath, and the main thrust of the Good Samaritan approach is to shield them from legal harm. Furthermore, proposed fees on hard-rock mining and a reinstating of the Superfund tax have failed to become law.