A Year After Animas River Mine Spill, New Mexico Sues Colorado And EPA

After a disastrous mine waste spill that took place last year, New Mexico is suing the state of Colorado stating that it should be held responsible for the massive contamination.

The U.S. EPA had claimed responsibility for sending a flood of toxic waste into the Colorado Animas River, caused by acid mine drainage and the 2015 Gold King Mine waste spill. The contamination had spread over 100 miles downriver, hitting New Mexico. The EPA estimated that 3 million gallons of mine waste had leaked, three times the amount that had been disclosed.

"We had hoped EPA and Colorado would try to work with us and come up with solutions," New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn told The Associated Press in an interview for Yahoo.com. "But the state of Colorado, its leadership, seems intent on defending EPA at every turn and is unwilling to work with us to move forward in a meaningful manner."

The New Mexico Attorney General's Office and the state Environment Department announced late last month that they filed a complaint against Colorado with the U.S. Supreme Court.

According to the AP, this marks the second major legal salvo fired by New Mexico in the wake of the August 2015 spill, which fouled rivers in three Western states with a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead, and other heavy metals. The state is also suing the EPA and the owners of two mines.

During the spill, water utilities shut down intake valves and farmers stopped drawing from the rivers as the plume moved downstream. The EPA said water quality quickly returned to pre-spill levels. But New Mexico officials and others warn about heavy metals collecting in the sediment.

“The Gold King Mine release is the result of two decades of disastrous environmental decision-making by Colorado, for which New Mexico and its citizens are now paying the price,” said Attorney General Hector Balderas in a statement. “New Mexicans rely on the Animas and San Juan Rivers for drinking water, ranching, farming, tourism and much more, so our communities must be compensated and protected from future health and safety risks.”

The Colorado governor's office said it is disappointed New Mexico has chosen "costly and time-consuming litigation."

"While the Gold King Mine spill was a striking reminder throughout the West that there are thousands of abandoned mines that would benefit from joint cleanup efforts, the litigation doesn't impact our commitment to addressing the challenges posed by historic mine drainage," the governor's office said in a statement.

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