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Ecocatastrophe: Mine Wastewater released into Colorado Animas River [US]

On August 5th 2015, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers inadvertently damaged a wall in a former mine near Silverton, Colorado, causing several million gallons’ worth of toxic wastewater to leak into the Animas River.

EPA personnel and contractors from the Environmental Restoration LLC were in the process of installing a concrete partition to contain the acid mine drainage from Gold King Mine, an abandoned mine that has been closed since 1923.

Workers inadvertently breached a wall within the mine that held back wastewater containing lead, cadmium, arsenic, copper, manganese and iron, resulting in an acidic wastewater spillage from the mine into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River. It has since spread to the San Juan River, which feeds the Colorado River, connecting waters in New Mexico, and Lake Powell on the Utah-Arizona border.

Despite the incident’s severity, the EPA failed to notify local residents for more than 24 hours after it took place. The agency has since assumed full responsibility, constructing emergency treatment ponds to mitigate the impact of the spillage.

Municipalities in Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah as well as communities within the Navajo Nation have been warned by government officials to stay clear of the contaminated affected waters.

Red-on-line EHS Legalist

Sources:

Emergency Response to August 2015 Release from Gold King Mine, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, August 2015.

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