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U.S. NEWSWednesday 12 August 2015
Navajo president:
EPA says spill cleanup could take decades
Navajo Nation Council Delegate Davis Filfred walks along the San Juan River, Tuesday, Aug. 11, ing high concentrations of zona, shut down water in-
2015, in Montezuma Creek, Utah. A spill containing lead and arsenic from the abandoned Gold arsenic, lead and other take systems and stopped
King Mine in Silverton, Colo., leaked into the Animas River, which flows into the San Juan River in heavy metals, as they in- diverting water from the
southern Utah, on Aug. 5. The spill was caused by a mining and safety team working for the EPA. spected the long-aban- San Juan River. Navajo Na-
doned Gold King mine tion President Russell Be-
(AP Photo/Matt York) near Silverton, Colorado, gaye told The Associated
on Aug. 5. Press that regional EPA of-
S. BRYAN communities demanded Navajo Nation declared EPA Administrator Gina ficials told him the cleanup
E. KNICKMEYER clarity Tuesday about pos- an emergency as the toxic McCarthy said Tuesday could take decades.
Associated Press sible long-term threats to waste spread downstream in Washington, D.C., that “Decades. That is totally,
ALBUQUERQUE, New Mex- their water supply. toward Lake Powell in Utah. she takes full responsibility completely unsettling,” Be-
ico (AP) — Townspeople Colorado and New Mexico EPA workers accidentally for the spill, which she said gaye said. “This is a huge is-
watching millions of gallons made disaster declarations unleashed an estimated 3 “pains me to no end.” She sue. This river, the San Juan,
of orange-colored mine for stretches of the Animas million gallons (11.36 million said the agency is working is our lifeline, not only in a
waste flow through their and San Juan rivers and the liters) of mine waste, includ- around the clock to assess spiritual sense but also it’s
the environmental impact. an economic base that
EPA officials said the shock- sustains the people that
ing orange plume has al- live along the river. You’re
ready dissipated and that taking away the livelihood
the leading edge of the and maybe taking it away
contamination cannot be from them for decades. ...
seen in the downstream That is just, to me, a disaster
stretches of the San Juan of a huge proportion. And
River or Lake Powell. we have yet to hear from
So far, the Bureau of Rec- the Obama administra-
lamation has no plans to tion.”
slow flows on the lower Col- The Attorneys General of
orado River, below Lake Utah, New Mexico and
Powell, where the water Colorado have been co-
is a vital resource for parts ordinating a response to
of California, Arizona, Ne- protect their citizens and
vada, New Mexico and ensure “whatever remedi-
Utah. ation is necessary occurs as
Chris Watt, a bureau quickly as possible,” Utah
spokesman in Salt Lake Attorney General Sean
City, said his agency is test- Reyes said in a statement.
ing the water at the re- Utah Gov. Gary Herbert
quest of the EPA, and can’t expressed disappointment
discuss the impact without with the EPA’s initial han-
learning the results. dling of the spill, but said
None of this has eased the state has no plans for
concerns or quelled anger legal action. New Mexico
among people in the arid Gov. Susana Martinez,
Southwest who depend on however, said she would
this water for their survival. not take anything off the
The Navajos, whose sover- table and that the EPA
eign nation covers parts of should be held to the same
New Mexico, Utah and Ari- standards as industry.q
