A Year Later, EPA Pays $445K For Gold King Mine Spill
By Peak Johnson
Last year, three million gallons of acid mine water from the Gold King Mine spill near Silverton, CO, entered the Animas and San Juan rivers.
The U.S. EPA had claimed responsibility for the spill which sent a flood of toxic waste into the Animas. In July, New Mexico sued the state of Colorado stating that it should be held responsible for the massive contamination.
The accidental wastewater spill also pitted the federal government in a “tense relationship with the Navajo Nation.”
“Navajo officials have chastised the EPA since the spill and tribal leaders say the aftermath of the release left their people on the brink of economic disaster since use of the San Juan for agricultural purposes was banned,” The Denver Post reported.
The EPA announced last year that the water was safe, but the Navajo Nation did not “immediately begin to draw from the source.” Navajo Nation leaders decided instead to wait for tests from its own environmental overseers.
According to colorlines.com, the EPA awarded the Navajo Nation $445,000 in addition to the $157,000 the agency awarded in March.
The new earnings will go toward supporting the Navajo Emergency Operation Center, drinking water monitoring, and hauling. The funding will also assist the Navajo Department of Agriculture.
“The U.S. EPA seeks press for taking small steps and half measures almost a full year after the Gold King Mine spill,” Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said in a statement to the Indian Country Today Media Network. “In the meantime, the Navajo Nation and the Navajo people continue to suffer as a result of the U.S. EPA’s actions. The time has long passed for the U.S. EPA to act responsibly and fulfill their legal and moral obligations to the Navajo Nation.”
To read more about the Gold King Mine spill or similar incidents visit Water Online’s Source Water Contamination Solutions Center.