A yellow sludge spilling from a shuttered gold mine into a southwestern Colorado river has reached northern New Mexico.
EPA will participate in an information meeting at the Farmington Civic Center exhibit hall at noon today, August 8. “I wouldn’t stay anywhere near the river”, he said.
No drinking-water contamination was reported. They’re still trying to figure out exactly what contaminants are in the water.
Toxic wastewater was released about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, while an EPA crew was moving dirt from the collapsed entrance of the mine.
For now, the health impacts of the spill aren’t known. “And the EPA has taken the ‘lead role.’ The problem is the EPA has left us totally disarmed”. “Every one of my customers that comes in, I tell them not to go”.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed 108 fingerling rainbow trout in three baskets on Thursday to monitor the effects.
Water was still spilling from the mine Friday but officials didn’t know how fast.
Few particulars have been launched concerning the spill, besides that a cleanup crew by chance breached a containment construction. And old mines here have kept draining acid mine water, leached from exposed rock, laced with heavy metals.
Chris Sanchez, spokesman for New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, said state officials were informed of the spill nearly a day after the accident happened.
Rich Mylott, a spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Agency, confirmed that nobody was hurt.
Friday, EPA regional administrator Shaun McGrath called his agency’s initial response “not appropriate”.
“There’s a lot of questions that our constituents have, and so many communities have as well, that we need to get rapid responses to”, he said. The Department of Natural Resources is assessing potential impacts on fish and aquatic life, notifying downstream water diverters and users and providing technical assistance to the EPA as it looks at a long-term fix for the mine site.
Silverton and San Juan County officials have resisted efforts to launch a full-scale federal “Superfund” cleanup to address this problem due to fears of a stigma that could hurt the tourism they count on for business. From there, the orange water plugged steadily along through the small stretch of winding river in southern Colorado and across the state border to New Mexico where the Animas meets the San Juan River. The scenic waterway was the backdrop for parts of the movie “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and is popular with summer boaters.
“It’s such a shame, it’s such a lovely river”.
The yellow sludge arrived in the city of Aztec on Friday night and Farmington, N.M. on Saturday morning, San Juan County Emergency Management Director Don Cooper said.
U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, appeared angry with the EPA’s actions that caused wastewater from the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton to flow down the Animas River through Durango.
Officials said the contamination will likely settle to sediment in Lake Powell, Glen Canyon National Recreational Area.
The Animas River remained closed to recreation Saturday, and officials could not say when the river would be safe again to use.
The river had begun to clear up in Silverton, McClain-Vanderpool stated.
