Coffman talked about Colorado’s legal response with The Denver Post as she prepared to meet with her counterparts from New Mexico, Democrat Hector Balderas, and Utah, Republican Sean Reyes. “It is absolutely devastating, and I am heartbroken by this environmental catastrophe”, Governor Martinez said.
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“EPA is an agency whose core mission is ensuring a clean environment and protecting public health, so it pains me to see this happening”, McCarthy said. The animas and now the San Juan river in New Mexico are striblthly off limits as the plume travels downstream from Colorado all the way to Utah and lake Powell, a major reservoir for drinking water.
Chris Watt, a spokesman for the Bureau of Reclamation in Salt Lake City, says it’s too early to say what the effects of the contamination might be. Officials are conducting daily water testing and assessments, so far reporting that there is no indication of widespread fish contamination in the San Juan.
The creek’s water quality was already badly degraded from a long history of acid mine drainage in the area, EPA officials acknowledge.
Calculations indicate the pollution has reached Utah, but tests haven’t confirmed it because the water’s chemistry has returned to normal. This was not an isolated event, he adds: “The Gold King mine is one of literally hundreds of mines that periodically release waste into the Colorado River”. She anticipates subsequent damage to infrastructure, resources, and property will pose a significant threat to the health and safety of citizens and visitors to New Mexico. The tribe’s Commission on Emergency Management voted Sunday to declare a state of emergency.
The former geologist said that if there’s a “silver lining” to the disaster, it will be a new relationship between the state and the EPA to solve the problem. He hopes the river will be open for recreation in the next few days.
The spill will have a destructive impact on the ecosystems fed by the San Juan River that the Navajo culture depends on, Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye said at a community meeting this weekend.
Three million gallons of mine wastewater spilled into Cement Creek then onto the Animas River on August 5 after it was released by the EPA at the Gold King Mine near Silverton. “I want answers from the EPA, but they’re nowhere to be found”, said David Filfred, a Navajo Nation council delegate.
“My message to folks who are angry at us is we are working as hard as we can and we know this is a difficult situation and we’re taking it as serious as we can”, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said Tuesday.
Salmon said the spill highlights concerns with a proposed EPA regulation known as the Waters of the United States rule, which would give the agency unprecedented regulatory authority over even small bodies of water.
Water treatment facilities in Durango stopped using water from the river after the spill, which contains heavy metals including arsenic and lead.
In San Juan County, access to drinking water from the river has been shut off for the time being.
The river is slowly turning back to its original blue color.
The state’s Parks and Wildlife agency said it had inserted cages with more than 100 fingerling trout into the river in southwest Colorado near Durango.
For rafting and fishing businesses, this year was set to be one of the best but that all changed last week after the massive spill of wastewater on the Animas River.
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The “safe” level for arsenic in drinking water is a tiny 10 parts per billion.
