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Navajo Nation Vows To Hold EPA Accountable As Colorado River Poisoner Identified
Having admitted responsibility for the poisoning of Colorado's Animus River, Mining.com reports The EPA has now been forced to admit that there was 3 milion gallons of toxic wastewater - triple their previous estimates. While EPA leadership held a press conference yesterday taking responsibility, it appears they are pointing the blame finger at the contractor, who they have now chosen to identify as Missouri-based Environmental Restoration which is one of the largest EPA emergency cleanup contractors. It is the main provider for the EPA’s emergency cleanup and rapid response needs in the region that covers Colorado, as well as in several other parts of the country - awarded $381 million in federal contracts since 2007. As the river slowly returns to normal (on the surface), The Navajo Nation, with many residents along the river, declared a state of emergency this week, vowing to hold the EPA fully responsible for its spill, and have demanded that the EPA provide the affected tribes with water until the river is once again usable.
The EPA Admits the Colorado River spill was three times bigger than expected... (via OilPrice.com, by Cecilia Jamasmie via Mining.com)
EPA says that about 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater, triple previous estimates, have poured from an old Colorado gold mine into local streams since last week.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday the spill caused accidentally by one of its clean-up teams working at an old Colorado gold mine has tripled in volume.
The leak, containing high concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead, is now estimated to have reached about three million gallons of toxic wastewater, triple than originally estimated.
According to the first statement released by the EPA, the contaminated water was hiding out behind debris near the Gold King Mine entrance, where the crew was working with heavy machinery. The mine waste poured out into a nearby creek, eventually leading to the Animas River where the spill spread.
These images, courtesy of the Environmental Protection Agency, show the mouth of the Gold King Mine tunnel (left), and the channeled runoff on the mine dump (right).
The discharge was still flowing at the rate of 500 gallons per minute yesterday, four days after the spill began at the Gold King Mine, the EPA added.
Image courtesy of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The agency has been diverting the ongoing release into two newly built settling ponds where the waste was being treated with chemicals to lower its acidity and to filter out dissolved solids before being discharged to Cement Creek.
Image courtesy of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The federal unit has also set up a website to provide constant updates on the situation.
EPA reiterated the spill does not threaten local sources of drinking water and the main contaminants responsible for the leak’s mustard-like colour are unlikely to be dangerous.
Image courtesy of U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Still, recreational activity on the affected waterways has been suspended until the orange-coloured plume has fully dissipated.
And now The EPA appears to be trying to distance itself from the actual event. As The Wall Street Journal reports, the previously unnamed contractor involved in the spil has now been identified (by the EPA) as Missouri-based Environmental Restoration LLC...
The EPA, which was overseeing the servicing of the mine, had previously said an unnamed outside contractor was using heavy equipment when it accidentally triggered a breach in the abandoned Gold King Mine, letting out wastewater that had built up inside it.
“Environmental Restoration LLC was working at the direction at EPA in consultation with the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety,” an EPA official said on Wednesday.
...
According to various government documents, Environmental Restoration had signed an agreement to provide emergency protection from pollutants from the Gold King Mine, near Durango, Colo., in the southwestern part of the state. The spill has fouled the nearby Animas River, turning its water mustard yellow in the initial several days after the spill on Aug. 5.
The money to fund the Gold King Mine cleanup comes out of EPA’s Superfund budget, according to Scott Sherman, a former deputy assistant administrator at EPA during the George W. Bush administration who oversaw Superfund and other waste programs.
Environmental Restoration is one of the largest EPA emergency cleanup contractors. It is the main provider for the EPA’s emergency cleanup and rapid response needs in the region that covers Colorado, as well as in several other parts of the country. It worked on the cleanup for some of the highest-profile disasters in recent history, including the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attack ground zero cleanup, and the Deepwater Horizon Gulf of Mexico spill remediation, according to the company’s website.
From October 2007 through this month, Environmental Restoration has been awarded $381 million in federal contracts, according to government procurement data compiled on USAspending.gov. The vast majority—more than $364 million—of that total was for work for the EPA.
Which makes you wonder, when revenues are all spoonfed by the government no matter what, just how 'careful' are you going to be? As we noted yesterday, this disaster was entirely foreseeable.
And, as TheAntiMedia.org reports, The Navajo Nation has vowed to hold The EPA accountable...
The Navajo Nation declared a state of emergency this week after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) revealed they were responsible for not one, but three million gallons of toxic mining wastewater spilled into the Animas River in Colorado. According to the EPA, the contamination is composed of cadmium, arsenic, lead, aluminum, and copper.
Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye vowed to hold the EPA fully responsible for its spill, saying “The EPA was right in the middle of the disaster, and we intend to make sure the Navajo Nation recovers every dollar it spends cleaning up this mess and every dollar it loses as a result of injuries to our precious Navajo natural resources.”
According to Indian Country Today, “Residents along the San Juan River have been warned to stay away from the waterway. It is closed until further notice and should not be used to water crops or feed animals.”
The Navajo Nation has demanded that the EPA provide the affected tribe(s) with water until the river is once again usable. It is currently unclear whether or not the agency will comply with this demand. Civil lawsuits now seem to be the restitution to recover damages from this spill since it is highly unlikely the EPA will pay any upfront fines for the leak, according to a former EPA official.
Navajo Nation President Begaye has “instructed Navajo Nation Department of Justice to take immediate action against the EPA to the fullest extent of the law to protect Navajo families and resources.”
Other damages to the local recreation economy and ecosystem are expected to add up, though the extent of the damages is not known at this time.
This is just the most recent case where Native American land was polluted, not to mention where their basic necessities and rights were violated by the federal government. In many of these instances, little to nothing was done to compensate them for the damage.
The Navajo Nation is no stranger to environmental negligence at the hands of the federal government and greedy corporations, which make their money extracting resources from native lands. For decades, uranium was mined from their land. According to the EPA,
“Today the mines are closed, but a legacy of uranium contamination remains, including over 500 abandoned uranium mines (AUMs) as well as homes and drinking water sources with elevated levels of radiation. Potential health effects include lung cancer from inhalation of radioactive particles, as well as bone cancer and impaired kidney function from exposure to radionuclides in drinking water.”
Despite the EPA’s claims to the contrary, this contamination is yet to be legitimately addressed even though the last uranium mines were shut down in 1986. In fact, the uranium industry is still trying to open new mines in or near Navajo land, despite the fact that the mess remains from previous mining operations. The Navajo Nation is still fighting for it to be cleaned up and to attain compensation for the countless victims who have fallen ill from radiation exposure.
Currently, Native American Indians face another dire threat to their environment and resources from Big Oil interests and their in-pocket politicians, who are pushing for the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The controversial pipeline is facing heavy opposition from indigenous groups because it would pass through reservation land in the U.S., extracting oil from prized native areas in Canada. While much is made from both the right and left about the pros and cons of the pipeline, these politicians and interest groups have so far disregarded the Native Americans’ concerns about the project.
The bottom line is that there are many environmental problems afflicting Native Americans and their land, and much of the time, these issues are neglected and even sustained by the people who cause them. Most times, complaints about these abuses fall on deaf government ears.
The EPA’s toxic spill into the Animas River serves to highlight the continued abuses that indigenous populations in North America have suffered at the hands of governments and moneyed-interests since Europeans first “discovered” the Americas.
* * *
Summing it all up...
It's not illegal when the government does it. pic.twitter.com/TehP7tCYne
— Dean Clancy (@DeanClancy) August 13, 2015
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We toxified some people....
Navajo medicine man Heavy Metal Soda vowed to put a curse on the EPA, which would turn it into an ineffective, disrespected, bankrupt agency filled with incompetents, liars and thieves..
Oops! Too late..
Somehow, i have a feeling Environmrntal Restoration is a member of the tribe....and i don't mean Navajo.
So the EPA says don't worry about what caused the orange color. Everything is getting back to normal. Yeah, a new normal with lead and arsenic in your water. If this was done by a corporation, the EPA and MSM would be screaming and calling for arrests, and millions of dollars in fines.
Exactly. The boob box would be showing all the protesters amassing at the gold domed state capital building. The TeeVee reporters would interview these protesters individually. All of the protesters would have the usual names, ending in -berg, -stein or -thal.
Quick, we need a false flag lion to wash up on the banks.
I am a little shocked the government didn't rebrand the river to the Tang River.
Chinamen are sensitive to that name.
"Colorful Colorado". Dig it.
whup whup whup
whup whup whup
whup whup whup
whup whup whup
I hear the helicopter. It’ll start dropping cash soon.
Indians should have bought nukes with their casino money.
Obozo would have given you a good deal.
Unfortunately, you went for the cheap booze, again.
This is what happens when you go from a warrior society to a welfare society. You stop taking responsibility for yourself, and expect others to take responsibility for you. It's the way of all governments. Governments need you to be dependent upon them, otherwise they'd lose relevance.
Russel Means: Welcome to the Reservation, insightful perspective on our current trajectory.
It's a shame he's passed on to the Great Big Hunting Ground. He tried and tried so hard with so many issues for the Lakota. I had significant respect for Russel. Ironically, this year Shannon County, SD has been appropriately renamed, but that won't keep hordes of drunk Indians from crossing into neighboring Nebraska for their weekly fix of Fire Water, puking and pissing on almost everything.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNG_Kn-m73M
Sammy Hagar - Heavy Metal (With Taarna in Stereo)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_2_gOpU0eWU
US doesn't honor treaties!
What didn't you people learn?
Even worse, US doesn't allow anyone other than rat-fingered elitists to review today's treaties, such as the TPP and related where $$ rules the roost and politicians take their cut while the rest of us hold our noses. The Navajo have no idea just how screwed they are, however, they are survivors.
p.s., Navajo should increase their speed limits and stop using lazer radar. The shakedown has gotten pretty damned old!
There will be more survivors than elitists.
Imagine if a white man said this;
"The very good news is that the data so far, is showing that 'water quality does restore itself to its prior conditions' and so we're going to be using that lesson as we move downstream, to make sure we do the testing we need to do and we provide the information to decision makers that they are looking for EPA to make that is high quality and reliable science," McCarthy said.
http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/08/12/animas-river-spill-epa/...
The MSM would be calling for his resignation.
White man eat dog poop, call it wealth.
White man eat repurposed dog poop, call it capital.
This is just the beginning. Wait until the downstream consumers (Lake Mead, Vegas, etc...) start wondering why their "safe" government processed water tastes worse than usual.
A decade from now those who suffer from X, Y, Z, etc… may learn that although the preponderance of evidence points to contaminant levels that this spill increased, "government immunity" applies and appeals time out while Obummercare routes them to the morgue.
Muddy waters for future fracking litigation as well, since “the government” may have contributed to the contamination in question.
Another “double plus good” “accident” for “Just Us” courtesy of their .gov minons.
God, that's wretched.
Add a side order of Fukushima Ocean Breeze and a healthy helping of radiated, dying, inedible sea life, you a have a go-to recipe the whole world can enjoy.
Maybe we'll luck out and when the chemtrail spraying resumes in Cali this fall, we can have all of this lovely stuff dusted with aluminum.
Go bananas, go go bananas!
Natives being fucked again by government sounds like history rhymes,eh?
So in Obama's Merica, one can pollute as long as you have money to pay fines or if one is in government to exploit tax funds. But average Americans must end their disasterous lifestyles that pollute the environment.
Oh the hypocrisy.
Wash out your plastics, put them in a clear bag.
The confessional of our time.
I don't understand why the flow was impounded to begin with. Shit flows dow hill (sooner or later).
Whatever did they intend to do with the water once they collected it behind the dam?
A heavy metal a day , keeps the undertakers in pay.
EPA Christine Todd Whitman said the air in Manhattan was safe to breathe ONE week after 911
Result? Thousands of first responders now dying of respiratory illness.
Christine still as free as Corzine
Precisely why Donna Summer got cancer. Disco is even more dead without her as she gives Whitman the "tongs" from the other side of the void.
Fuck You, Whitman and a major Fuck You to Corzine.
.."Free Jon Corzine- he was framed"..
It's a big club, and you AIN'T in it! You and I, are not in the big, club.
"Me scalpum white government devil."
epa union rep told me they are going with the old whiskey, wampum and smallpox blankets gambit again
Hey, strain out any dead pigs, bottle the water, and sell it to China as an aphrodisiac!
Notice how much less news/press/debate coverage this has gotten than the BP Gulf spill. When it's all over, their own investigation will come to the conclusion that there simply wasn't enough regulation or funding. Nobody will get fired, and as far as being fined or sued... Well, I guess we're SOL.
While they were awarded over 300 million in government contracts it appears they received around 34 million for this one. Somebody should probably be checking the quality of work on the other 300 million in contracts our government chose to bestow on this company.
How will this impact the California water shortage?
This water only goes to southern California.
Most of the solids will fall out of solution just by natural filtration due to flowing over all the sediment.
All of the water gets processed at a water treatment plant before it makes it to homes, anyway.
There will just be more potential metals/solids to remove.
...and kills 95% of anything living in the water. This is a criminal act and should by rights bring the perp 20 years in a Fed pen.
Wasn't it Obama that something to the effect that, "The buck stops with me." Who knew that he meant the US Dollar!?!?
So, taxes going up, again?
No, this water will end up in many states and has already. The sludge will and has meandered through Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Arizona. Lake Powell was expected to begin taking a hit by wednesday August 12th or yesterday (according to AZ news). The question is about dilution and how bad the water will be when it gets there.
If I remember right lake Powell also provides the pressure for Lake Mead but not positive on that.
This dude asked how it would affect California.
There is no direct route from Colorado to California, so duh.
Take your negative bat elsewhere
So a mischievous individual could just dump very toxical chemicals and isotopes in a river and it flows directly to millions of faucets? Hmm.
This is now the approved replacement.
Dumb ass liberals put this muslim nigga in power for 8 years - WTF
Who is the "Lois Lerner" in this crime?
It's been a week and nowhere in the media is the name of ANY EPA wonk responsible for supervising this deal.
What is the name ofthe EPA offical that approved this operation?
EPA: We were under a heightened budget approval crisis, we needed to show our true cause to receive funding.
We have had something similar here too, but it was obviously "no ones fault". To give an idea of cost:
Whole-life costs for these treatment options at Saltburn range from £3.3m to £7.4m, respectively. A cost-benefit analysis by RPA Consultants found that the minewater’s impact on the local economy over a 25 year ‘life-cycle’ period amounted to £10.4m
This started 16 years ago and still ongoing.
Saltburn is just north of Whitby, North East. UK Lovely day out with the kids (well adults now, but ok, still like the 2p falls).
Edit for source: https://www.geolsoc.org.uk/Geoscientist/Archive/July-2011/Metal-mining-w...
Left: Life and prosperity
Right: Death and decay
Everything was fine with our system until the power grid was shut off by dickless here... [/Ray, Ghostbusters]
Dr. Peter Venkman: Yes it's true.
[pause]
Dr. Peter Venkman: This man has no dick.
Well, that's what I heard.
"The only good river is a dead river"
Gina McCarthy 2015
This is the most venal, traitorous, repugnant White House yet seen. By far.
Curse of the Gold. Damn you goldbugs! Your lust for bright shiney objects will destroy us all.
The "after" looks like it tastes a lot better
You're doing a good job, Brownie!
Native Americans. Native Americans. Don't you know that as long as you remain on your reservation you are under the government's thumb? The only thing more corrupt than the U.S. government is a tribal government.
This would be the same EPA that tells you what kind of plants can be on your own private lakefront, forces every American to use gasoline cans that don't even remotely work, and forces us to use powdered mercury-laden CFC light bulbs.
I'm pretty sure the Navajo know who their enemy is.
Sue the Fuck Out of 'em...
They'll just Print the cash anyways.
Yes, Heads I win, Tails you loose ;)
Disband the EPA, the DEA, the CIA, the IRS, and all the other useless, corrupt, wasteful government agencies that are stealing our freedoms, stealing our tax dollars, and are sucking this country's resources dry.
The water may appear to be clear but the bed of the river remains contaminated. A local reporter was showing the toxic sludge that remains. I'm sure that next spring's run-off will move some of it along.
Yeah sure.
Right after they hold the feds accountable for 100+ years of genocide, rape, and plunder.
What's the traditional Navajo punishment for poisoning their entire (remaining) homeland? A fine, right?
Indian Groups may have standing before the courts. Let's hope so.
I know for a fact, any long timer here understands the exponential function better than most folks wandering the land, anywhere on earth.
It does not take many to change the world, and that exponential function I mentioned, has been reached. In all the years I have seen myself, and been right pissed off at the lack of action, or awareness from the populace, we have reached a tipping point. Never in my adult life have I encountered more aware, and fucked right off folk than I have these past few months.
You all played a part in that my ZH friends. I have hope for us all, because little by little, it snowballs, picks up speed, and becomes the one thing they never thought it could, its awakes so many, it cant be ignored.
The 'Exponential Function'. You dont even have to understand what it means, its happening...
Humans are, mother fucking amazing. You only need a catalyst.
Any old timers on here, give yourselves a wry smile. You cant be stopped, and the big men now know this. And a fucking right big pat on the back.
Lets give these cunts war...
:-)
Why ruin your post with bad language? You claim to be old enough to know better :-)
Language is only "bad" when it fails to communicate anything worth saying such as your post.
Freedom of speech trumps political correctness EVERY time.
Go back to the Huffington Post.
This mine has been "leaking" for years. Skied Silverton Moutain numerous times and a guide mentioned the water quality in the area wasn't good. Snowpack was the water source in the winter.
Have a look on Google Earth, you'll see what I mean.
The contaminated water was 'hiding' behind some debris according to the report. Real pros from an experienced business were working on the $34 million dollar contract ......... Trick question: What is wrong here?
http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/retired-geologist-predicted-epa-spill-week-prior-says-it-was-intentional-money
Make the fools who did this, along with the head of the EPA take 2 hour baths in this waste water daily!
While drinking 8 ounces on the hour.
This morning on his 8:05 AM local news on KANW, Albuquerque I heard Mark Bentley give his take on what really happened, Of all the news reporters in the state, he's the only one I trust. His commentaries are listed most places under the title "Dateline New Mexico"
Kudos to Mark Bentley for possibly being the first person to note the FACT that the half-assed things they were doing as a CERCLA "Emergency Removal Action" were because of Colorado and public opinion being against listing as a Superfund site for FEAR OF THE STIGMA a full-fledged cleanup would entail.
That's why there is no EIS and no EA to be found describing what they were doing and how they chose that from among all the other possible choices.
It was fear that calling a spade a spade would hurt tourism and hurt their pride.
EPA wanted to list this site, which they call the "Red and Bonita Mine" as a Superfund site. But the state was opposed. And the "public" was opposed. Superfund sounds bad. But a Superfund cleanup would have been a REAL CLEANUP.
This spill would not have happened if they had done things right, which would be to list it on the National Priorities List as a Superfund cleanup and have a full-blown EIS with public and state involvement in the decision on what to do and how to do it.
Fucking environmental do-gooders remind me of early 20th century missionaries. We'll convert these savages to sustainability! We'll make them atone for their sins!
No separation between the Environmental Church and State.
LLC...
any questions?
http://krtnradio.com/2015/08/03/dateline-new-mexico-august-2015/
Dateline New Mexico~ August 2015 Aug. 03 Mark Bentley's Dateline New Mexico no comments AUG
12 THE SPILL ON THE ANIMAS WASN’T ALL THE EPA’S FAULT. ALSO, THE PED HAS LOST A ROUND ON TEACHER EVALUATIONS. There is another perspective on the mine wastewater spill in Colorado that is now getting national attention. First, the water that caused the problem has been leaking slowly into the Animas for years, but not at high enough levels to cause significant problems, at least downstream. Secondly, the problem was not created by either the EPA or any other agency, but by a 100 year old mine – one among many – that was never cleaned up. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of them all over the west. The EPA part came through a mistake, a major mistake that sent all that contaminated water rushing into the river. Colorado and New Mexico, along with the Navajo Nation, have declared emergencies and disaster areas for the stretches of the Animas and San Juan rivers that have been affected by the spill. EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said on Tuesday that she takes full responsibility for the spill which she said “pains me to no end.” The plume now has dissipated and the bright yellow/orange color isn’t visible in the downstream stretches, but the contamination continues to flow downstream. The President of the Navajo Nation, Russell Begaye said it will take decades to clean up. That is what the EPA told him. Begaye went on to say “Decades. That is totally, completely unsettling. This is a huge issue. This river, the San Juan, is our lifeline, not only in a spiritual sense but also it’s an economic base that sustains the people that live along the river. You’re taking away the livelihood and maybe taking it away from them for decades. … That is just, to me, a disaster of a huge proportion. And we have yet to hear from the Obama administration.” As we said earlier, the Gold King mine has been leaching the metals into the river for years, and it has been killing fish as it gets into the upper reaches of the Animas. The EPA wanted to make it a superfund site, but local officials said no. The EPA then said okay, let the local officials lead cleanup efforts. Change of topic, but another legal issue. Santa Fe District Judge Francis Matthews ruled that a lawsuit filed by the National Education Association of New Mexico can go forward. They want to stop the teacher evaluation system put in place last year by Hanna Skandera and the Public Education Department. The PED had been trying to get the suit dismissed. The suit claims the PED “”usurped the authority of local school districts in an unconstitutional move to determine evaluation policies and procedures.” No trial date has been set and it will probably be quite a while before it ends up before Judge Matthews. PED spokesman Robert McEntyre told the Las Cruces Sun News “Like other frivolous attempts from the unions, this lawsuit is an unfortunate and costly distraction as thousands of New Mexico’s kids head back to school. It’s disappointing that these special interests would rather turn back to an evaluation system that simply rated 99 percent of our teachers as ‘meeting competency’ while less than half of our students were proficient in reading and math. NMTeach is an important tool that continues to recognize our very best teachers and support all teachers so that every child in New Mexico has the opportunity to have the best education possible.” There continues to be significant concern all along the river system affected by the spill about possible long-term effects. The EPA has said it moved fast enough that it would wash on downstream, but most folks don’t believe that. The EPA is going to have to make good on the damage, prove that it safe to use and recreate in river water, and ultimately compensate those who sustained losses. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let me know atmark.bentley76@gmail.com. Thanks for reading! © All rights reserved Mark Bentley has been covering New Mexico politics for more than 25 years and in addition to this blog, airs a radio version “Dateline New Mexico” on numerous stations around the state. You can hear other programs from Mark Bentley at his website CowboyReporter.com. AUG 10 TOXIC SPILL. THE EPA SCREWS UP AND WON’T TAKE RESPONSIBILITY. It is now up to three million gallons. That is the new estimate of the toxic mine sludge released from the Gold King Mine in Colorado into the Animas River by the Environmental Protection Agency. The very government agency charged with protecting the environment has done significant damage to it. The agency confirmed Sunday that the mine waste leaked into the river is three times the original estimate. The agency also said there were levels of arsenic that are more than 100 times the historic amount, lead that is 3,800 times the normal amount and then said it was in plume, but declined after the yellow water passed the monitoring station. EPA toxicologist Deborah McKean said “Yes, those numbers are high and they are scary because they seem so high compared to the baseline numbers before or after the plume passes by. However, risks associated to exposure to the chemical is not just a matter of toxicity of the chemical, it’s also a matter of the exposure to the chemical and how much of that chemical someone is exposed to. Even though those numbers are very high, since the plume’s time in any one location is pretty short, the impact on humans that’d be exposed at the one location would be lower than it might be if that same person was a exposed for a longer period of time.” No kidding. They also said more of this toxic brew is leaking from the mine. Leaking at a rate of about 500 gallons a minute. The EPA says they are now treating the water before it gets to the river. It has now entered New Mexico and is on the way to Lake Powell, which it should reach tomorrow. Once it gets to the lake, one would presume the flow would decrease and the stuff would just sit – and settle. Then what? McKean also said “The plume location is relatively short lived in an area so if stock or wildlife accidentally or momentarily had ingested some of the water, we don’t believe there will be any long term health effects with that exposure,” They haven’t apparently figured out what the effect will be on aquatic species. The Navajo Nation says they plan to sue the EPA and Governor Susana Martinez said she plans to hold the agency accountable. Governor Susana Martinez on Monday said she was declaring a disaster because of the spill. That will free up $750,000 in state money to be used for help with water well testing, helping figure out what the long term effects of the spill will be, and supporting emergency personnel on the ground. The governor also put the EPA on notice they may get a lawsuit from the state. KOB – TV in Albuquerque, during a press conference, asked if the agency would hold itself responsible and accountable and was told “We are aware of questions and concerns and we do acknowledge the impacts this has caused on various businesses, people and the local government. We’re doing our work right now to be able to come back with a definitive answer on that and we’ll be able to do so fairly shortly.” In other words, the EPA doesn’t know if they are responsible, and don’t want to admit their culpability. Hmmm. Another part of the problem caused by the leak is the effect it will have on water wells near the river. No one has been able to answer what the long term effects will be. One can only imagine what the reaction of the EPA would be if a private enterprise had been responsible for the leaking of this toxic waste into the Animas River. But, because it was caused by the very agency charged with making sure such things don’t happen, we suspect there will be little fall-out. No one knows, at this point, the long term effect of the continuing leak, what it will do to not only the environment and wildlife, including fish, but also the cities, towns, ranchers and farmers who rely on the Animas. It is time for the EPA to step up to their responsibility. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, please let me know atmark.bentley76@gmail.com. Thanks for reading! © All rights reserved AUG 9from Mark Bentley, Dateline New Mexico, August 12, 2015:
"... As we said earlier, the Gold King mine has been leaching the metals into the river for years, and it has been killing fish as it gets into the upper reaches of the Animas. The EPA wanted to make it a superfund site, but local officials said no. The EPA then said okay, let the local officials lead cleanup efforts."
"The EPA wanted to make it a superfund site, but local officials said no. The EPA then said okay, let the local officials lead cleanup efforts."
"The EPA wanted to make it a superfund site, but local officials said no. The EPA then said okay, let the local officials lead cleanup efforts."
"The EPA wanted to make it a superfund site, but local officials said no. The EPA then said okay, let the local officials lead cleanup efforts."
EPA: everything is OK. Our motto is to develop, plan, execute, and create choas. Don't worry, we just planted - non toxic colorant to reach a 8.6 million dollar budget goal.
http://www2.epa.gov/planandbudget
FY 2016 EPA Budget in Brief - Environmental Protection Agency
Truth is, when you are the government and you don't really have a good reason to be there (due to the fact that you are non-productive and non-wealth creating), you have to MAKE reasons to stay around and justify your existence. They are all getting really good at it. But that's not good at all. Think ancient Rome.
The contractor responsible for this is indemnified from damages, and the EPA will if it waves sovereign immunity will simply bill those greedy TaxPayers to pay their "fair share." No one fired or criminal prosecuted, unlike in the BP Gulf rig blowout.
I guess the BIA run out of ways to fuck the Navaho. Enter the EPA. Meet the new boss same as the old boss.
Thank fuck the acidity is being lowered. Phew. Thats a massive relief.
No mention of the mercury levels in there yet. Which is the elephant in the room imo.
i imagine after the water clears, there will be seeps of the crap going into the river, and probably lots of toxins settled to the bottom which will get stirred up by regular water level rises from storms, etc
It may be a dead river forever
I love how this is going to turn out.
EPA will not be accountable for anything. Were this a private company, they would be speaking to BK lawyers already, with executives and those in charge speaking to attorneys as well.
The EPA, less than 1 day after the spill has already said that its no big deal and its safe (after investigation) - this was accomplished in about 24 hours. Again - if it were NOT the govt causing the issue, the investigation would take months, with doom headline after doom headline released each day.
Those involved will not be fired - theyMIGHT, (maybe, 5% chance) find some minor peon scapegoat to fire IF the media keeps this story going - otherwise - business as usual.
There will be no fines of the EPA, any and all lawsuits will be delayed/denied/stalled for years. Those in the damage zone will be massively "pressured" to accept a pittance settlement - the people will get nothing - this is the local govts. Basically - if you do not accept 700k, it would be a shame if your name was accidentially left off the welfare, medicaid, school, children, (you name it here funded by govt) list for reimbursement.
Its only blackmail when you are NOT the ultimate power. EPA is above almost all regulatory action except the US Supreme Ct.
One week before the spill, a retired geologist in Silverton, wrote a letter to the editor, warning that the EPA plan to block up the water flowing through the mine to "contain it" was doomed to backfire when the water pressure exceeded the blockage. He even predicted the pressure would reach this point 7 to 10 days after they blocked it.
It let go about 8 days later.
In other words, the EPA blocked the flow of water already flowing through the mine and CREATED the problem! This was NOT an accident, this was a deliberate and negligent act by the EPA. Now the damages will be paid for with Taxpayer dollars, no government employee will lose their job and hundreds of thousand of people are incovienced and wildlife affected. Hey, no better way to flush a mine that to plug it up and let the pressure build until it blows!
Predicted. Not an accident. Not a mistake. Deliberate.