The Colorado mine wastewater had made its way through much of the Navajo Nation on Tuesday, leaving lead, arsenic and other metals along the shoreline.
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Meanwhile, a spokesman for Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said the governor is disappointed in the EPA’s initial handling of the spill but the state has no plans for legal action.
No drinking-water contamination has been reported because water utilities shut down their intake valves ahead of the plume to keep it out of their systems.
The creek’s water quality was already badly degraded from a long history of acid mine drainage in the area, EPA officials acknowledge.
Wolk said his agency does not believe there is any risk to human health.
The spill, estimated to be 80 miles (130 kilometers) long, was a major embarrassment for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the federal government agency tasked with combating pollution.
It’s unclear what the announcement will be. She didn’t release further details. “Navajo tribal officials have declared a state of emergency”. He was headed to Durango, Colorado, to meet with his counterparts from that state and Utah.
“Over the next few days, the waters in the river are going to clear up”, said Jeff Witte, New Mexico’s agriculture secretary to about 300 people who gathered at the Farmington Civic Center on Monday evening.
EPA on-scene coordinator Hayes Griswold told San Juan County, Colo., officials the breach was caused when a team of EPA officials attempted to pump liquid from the mine for treatment. Its sprawling reservation is traversed by the San Juan River, which flows through southeastern Utah into Lake Powell.
He also said this isn’t the first time he’s seen the river turn colors and is not anxious about the impact on drinking water, “The indications are that this will pass and life will be getting back to normal soon”.
Colorado has more than 4,000 abandoned mines, about 1,100 of them around Silverton, according to American Rivers, which calls those sites “ticking time bombs”. Results won’t be known for at least two weeks.
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.
Yellow waste water that had been held behind a barrier near an abandoned mine in the Animas River in Durango, Colorado.
By Monday afternoon, some photos from the Animas River seemed to show some dissipation, aided by the EPA’s introduction of clean water upstream and the use of large holding pools to contain the toxic water. Still, the river will remain closed until scientists determine “it’s safe for them”, she said. That angered Hickenlooper, who, echoing others, said the EPA has been too slow in responding to the disaster overall. A wall of yellow-orange sludge – 4500 litres per minute – began flowing downstream. The plume has since passed through parts of Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and the Navajo Nation.
So, McCarthy said, “I’m deeply sorry that this ever happened”.
Martinez’s office says the governor spoke with McCarthy on Tuesday evening.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy was due Wednesday to visit Durango and Farmington, N.M., which is downstream.
McCarthy pledged a thorough review of the EPA’s role in the disaster, but said her current focus is on properly managing the response.
No die-off of wildlife along the river has yet been detected.
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Still, McGrath is concerned, telling Hickenlooper that long-term monitoring had not yet been established.
