And the facility is expected to be operational within weeks. EPA personnel and contractors were attempting to work on the tailing pond at the closed Gold King Mine when they accidentially caused the release of toxic wastewater near Silverton, Colorado August . 5, 2015. “These statements underscore my concerns about the lengths that the EPA is willing to go to in order to justify regulations not supported by science, but that will have an enormously negative impact on individuals, families, and the economy as a whole”.
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The plant will be designed to neutralize the acidity and “treat flow rates that vary from 600 gpm to 900 gpm” and that “can operate at all temperature extremes”. “There would be demands that all documents be posted immediately online”.
Construction of the facility appears well under way at the Gladstone town site. Udall last month requested the hearing.
“I think EPA ought to be held to an even higher standard” than a private company, Barrasso said.
The Senators urged the Obama administration to prioritize funding for a water treatment act and to encourage counties, companies and non-profit organizations to join clean-up efforts in abandoned mines.
During the second panel, President Russell Begaye of the Navajo Nation testified that there is now little trust that the EPA will help mitigate the disaster they caused.
And Bennet called for an “immediate solution” to the acid-mine drainage compromising downstream water supplies.
Ms. McCarthy’s testimony came two days after Rep. Paul Gosar, Arizona Republican, called for impeaching the EPA chief for lying to Congress about EPA rules to protect streams and wetlands – laws he said that would lead to fewer jobs in U.S.in the long term. One investigation on the spill has been completed, and two more separate evaluations are underway. That proposal, which would create a cleanup fund for abandoned and inactive mines through reclamation fees and royalties on mine owners, has not moved out of committee. He noted there are some 500,000 abandoned mines in the country, many of which need major reclamation, and that should be the focus of Congress.
“We have to make sure we get this right and not repeat these mistakes”, Udall said.
“This was a tragic and unfortunate incident, and the EPA has taken responsibility to ensure that it is cleaned up appropriately”, EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee at the hearing Wednesday on the spill.
Later in the hearing, Chaffetz returned to that point and said McCarthy wasn’t being truthful about the actions of her employees and whether the liability document, known as a Standard Form 95, constituted a “settlement agreement”.
And Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S. “And if you were a private sector company in charge of a spill like that, you’d be in jail”. Rounds asked. “I certainly did not”.
Those assertions were vigorously challenged by other witnesses and by senators, who accused the agency of doing “nothing right” in the aftermath of the spill that they said should never have happened in the first place.
“You violated the law. We have wells that are still leaking oil right now, right now”, Mr. Sullivan said. “We were there to relieve the situation that we knew was building up”.
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McCarthy explained she’s waiting to see the Interior Department’s report of the incident to take action. EPA has accepted responsibility here as well.
