“Needless to say, the health of our community and recreation-based economy depends heavily on water quality”.
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Joan Card, an adviser to Environmental Protection Agency Regional Director Shaun McGrath stated that no health hazard has been detected so far, but the test will continue. “We know the importance to people to have this information”.
The disaster happened as the EPA began work to pump wastewater out the leaking mine, which first opened in 1887, and treat it in containment ponds. “This is going to be a long-term impact”.
“We’re all going to get through this – together”, he said.
“We really believed it wasn’t as much water as we ended up seeing”.
In a wildly ironic-and tragic-case of “with friends like these”, members of the Environmental Protection Agency looking into pollutants at an abandoned mine in southwestern Colorado accidently unleashed around a million gallons of polluted water with their heavy machinery on Thursday.
As the plume headed toward New Mexico, that state’s governor said the EPA waited too long to tell her about the problem.
As the mine spill made its way through the river, authorities told people to avoid contact with the water.
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.
La Plata County director of emergency management Butch Knowlton said the sludge would be tested one way or another to protect public health. He said in a phone interview Saturday evening that he had freed up $500,000 in emergency funds to aid municipal water systems and conduct sampling. Colorado Parks and Wildlife placed cages with fish into the river to monitor how they react to the contaminated water and expect to have results by Friday. “It is devastating to see”, Martinez said. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can.
New Mexico Senators Martin Heinrich and Tom Udall called the release of the wastewater “deeply troubling” and “of great concern”, respectively.
Durango resident Lisa Shaefer said she was near the mine Wednesday when a mine bulwark broke and sent a torrent of water downstream that raised the water level 2 to 3 feet in Cement Creek. “The EPA causes all of this and then they say, “Oh well” and nothing happens”. EPA planned to release a more complete report late Saturday or early Sunday.
It’s anticipated to succeed in the northern New Mexico cities of Aztec and Farmington by Friday night. Pressed on whether the river water now contains arsenic, the officials said laboratory testing wouldn’t be done for another 24 hours.
The Animas River in southwest Colorado has been fouled by mine wastewater as the result of a mine plug blowout. Portions of the river, which is a popular recreational destination, have been closed off by law enforcement, and officials warned agricultural users to shut off water intakes along affected portions of the river.
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The Animas River flows into New Mexico’s San Juan River, which is residence to some endangered fish and joins the Colorado River in Utah.
