EPA: Colorado Mines Leak Millions Of Gallons Of Mine Waste Daily
Arizona Sen. John McCain is calling for a Justice Department criminal investigation of last summer’s Gold King Mine spill. McCain is part of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, which held a field hearing in Phoenix on Friday.
Last summer, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was inspecting the old gold mine in Colorado when it accidentally released 3 million gallons of mine waste into the Animas and San Juan rivers.
Navajo President Russell Begaye said the 1,500 farmers and ranchers downstream are worried about using the water.
“When the snow starts melting when there’s a spike in water level, all those contaminants will continue migrating into Navajo land,” Begaye said. “That’s our fear and that’s the fear of the farmers.”
The Gold King Mine is just one of the tribe’s concerns.
EPA assistant administrator Mathy Stanislaus said dozens of Colorado mines have been polluting the rivers for years. The EPA has proposed those mines be made a national priority cleanup site.
“This consists of 48 mines, including the Gold King Mine, which collectively discharge 5.5 million gallons (of mine waste) every day, continues to this day,” Stanislaus said.
The EPA is waiting on public comments, so the superfund site list won’t be finalized until the fall.
The hearing brought up many comparisons to Flint, Michigan. While $80 million has been spent to deal with the Flint water disaster, Begaye said the Navajo Nation has received a small fraction of that.
So far the EPA has spent $22 million on clean water, bails of hay, claims and river monitoring for the Navajo.
