And because the federal government inadvertently triggered it, the agency has vowed to pay the bills, which could take years to tally.
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That bill could be years in the making.
Flows from the closed mines had increased in recent years, and the EPA noted in an April report that higher levels of some metals coincided with the plugging of another mine in the area. But Colorado’s attorney general, Cynthia Coffman, acknowledged it could be years before the full impact is known.
McCarthy acknowledged the continuing concerns about the heavy metals now trapped in the river bed and along the banks, and promised to deal with the sediment problem over the long term.
On August 5, the EPA says about three million gallons of heavy metal laced mining waste water washed into the Animas River from the “Gold King Mine” near Silverton.
According to the New Mexico Environment Department, tests done four days after the spill on the surface of the Animas River as it flows into the Navajo Nation showed safe levels of everything but lead, which will be removed through water treatment before human consumption.
“I am deeply disappointed by the actions of the Environmental Protection Agency“, Mr. Herbert said after issuing the executive order.
Kay James, an organic ranch owner in Durango, Colo., who works 10 miles away from the river, was able to avoid the spill because the EPA gave her adequate notice to obtain water from other sources. She also announced that the EPA has released $500,000 to help supply clean water for crop irrigation and livestock in northwestern New Mexico.
Heavy metals already were present in the tribe’s underground aquifers, and “now those same things are dumped in the river”, said Rex Kontz, deputy general manager for the Navajo Tribal Utility Authority.
But city officials stressed Thursday that the testing was on river water and the city’s drinking water has not been affected and is safe to drink. “Now it’s almost like your legs were cut out from under you”. Just two weeks without water could wipe out their corn and alfalfa just before harvest, which represents an entire year’s salary for some farming families. The agency lists more than 15 case studies it has conducted of abandoned mines across the country, mostly in the West in states such as Colorado, Montana and California, but also in Vermont and Tennessee.
“My guess is that recreation use will be opened up fairly quickly”.
In most cases, the bonds have been sufficient to cover the cost of cleanup when mine operators don’t finish, Waldron said. The declaration allows the state to get federal funds to respond to the incident. The Summitville gold mine in southern Colorado became a Superfund site after the Summitville Consolidated Mining Co. declared bankruptcy.
Absent technological breakthroughs, the EPA expects to be treating water at abandoned mines for generations.
John Hickenlooper drank straight from the Animas River river Tuesday, where water had been contaminated by a toxic spill last week, in an effort to show the river was back to normal.
On Wednesday, EPA identified Environmental Restoration, one of its prime contractors for cleaning up and containing contamination on short notice, as the company that had been working onsite as part of an EPA-directed cleanup when the spill occurred. “Once the claim is made it will only be for the claims suffered to date and precludes future claims”, he said.
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It said the EPA was in charge of providing information on the spill and the information it had provided so far has been “factual”.
