“This is a tragic and unfortunate incident, and EPA is taking responsibility to ensure that it is cleaned up”, McCarthy said at an event Tuesday.
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Seven water systems in Colorado and New Mexico may also be affected, as the river carries the contaminants closer to the Colorado River, which feeds much of the West.
Deborah McKean, chief of the EPA Region 8 Toxicology and Human Health and Risk Assessment, spoke with reporters about the incident. These particular stretches of river are popular for all kinds of summer recreation and local outfitters and businesses, as well as those who rely on the water for agriculture are bracing for catastrophic economic impacts.
Making matters worse, the Bureau of Reclamation has no plans to slow flows on the lower Colorado River, below Lake Powell, where the water is a vital resource for parts of California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah.
“Decades. That is totally, completely unsettling”, Mr Begaye said. “This is a huge issue”. Reporter: David, there may still be long-term health affects for wildlife and people. It could have easily died just from normal, I mean that’s not an unusual number when you transfer fish to lose one in transfer. “And we have yet to hear from the Obama administration”.
When the spill happened, the EPA-supervised crew was trying to enter the mine to pump out and treat the water, EPA spokeswoman Lisa McClain-Vanderpool said.
The mine owners and their wealthy cohorts are no doubt basking in luxury somewhere, far from the flowing rivers, unconcerned about the effects on those living there, not to mention the growing threats to planet Earth itself.
New Mexico is taking it upon itself to test the water in our state, and some Navajo Nation officials are asking the federal government for independent testing there, saying they don’t trust what the EPA is telling them. Disasters have been declared by the governors of Colorado and New Mexico and the plume has now crossed over into Utah. McCarthy on Tuesday said that her agency accepted “full responsibility” for the spill, and said the agency was “absolutely deeply sorry” and that it expects lawsuits.
The river, normally filled with tubers and rafter, remains closed to the public.
While the discolored river is understandably alarming, Molina said that it’s important to remember any CAP water from the Colorado River has to travel through tens of millions of acre-feet of lake and river waterways before it ends up in Tucson.
There was no indication of when the water will be safe to use again, she said.
Tests show some of the metals have settled to the bottom of the rivers and would dissolve only if conditions became acidic, which experts say isn’t likely.
A few hours after the spill, an official EPA statement described it as nothing more than a “pulse” that had “dissipated in about an hour”.
Legislation in 11 Western states aims to turn over federal lands to the states, according to a new report.
An update from San Juan County and the Navajo Nation released Tuesday evening on where to get water, public meetings planned for Tuesday, and livestock information can be read here.
Begaye explained that the Navajo are well known for their organic crops and meat, but now with the river contamination, farmers and ranchers are scared they can’t guarantee their consumers that their produce and products are going to be 100 percent organic.
“We had lots of trips booked”.
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“We all share this crisis no matter where we live”, said Bartles. He said his dozen employees are out of work, and he’s lost about $10,000 in business since the spill.
