Gold King Mine discharge. (Image from archives)
The state of New Mexico plans to sue the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over last year’s toxic Colorado mining spill that sent 3 million gallons of waste into the Animas and San Juan rivers.
In a notice of intent to sue filed by the state Thursday, officials claim the EPA is to blame for the the consequences of the blowout at the abandoned Gold King Mine in Colorado, which caused the massive spill last August.
Officials have yet to tally the total damage from the accident, but they say the EPA has repeatedly failed in its duties to protect the state and its residents.
“From the very beginning, the EPA failed to hold itself accountable in the same way that it would a private business,” Ryan Flynn, secretary of New Mexico’s Environment Department, said in a statement.
“The EPA caused an unprecedented disaster that may affect our state for years to come,” he added.
The Interior Department investigation concluded the mine plug “might have failed on its own,” but smarter intervention could have averted that. (Image by @kelly.greenwell | Instagram)
The state is also suing Colorado and the owner of the abandoned mine for their roles in the spill, which happened as an EPA clean-up crew was working at the abandoned Gold King mine.
New Mexico’s imminent lawsuit is believed to be the first formal intention to sue the EPA over the accident.
An earlier probe conducted by the US Department of the Interior concluded the spill, while avoidable, was “clearly unintentional.”
The agency has said it does not expect any negative health effects from exposure to the water and that the risk of adverse impacts to livestock is low. EPA has also said that it has not uncovered any food-safety concerns related to agricultural contamination.
3 Comments
Steve
We all know the horrible irony here. Had this been you, me, or Company ABC, the EPA would have been shouting from every mountain. They would have sued and blamed incompetence. They would have said the health effects and food contamination are HIGH.
Spudly
Are we to be comforted with the suggestion that it was “clearly unintentional”. This would imply that all other spills are in some way intentional.
Restless Boomers
This whole EPA effort was to extort San Juan County and Silverton Colorado into accepting status as another EPA Superfund cleanup site, which means seceding control from local to federal. San Juan County Commissioners made a terrible mistake that will have devastating consequences for decades to come.
When will local yokels wake up and realize they are but part of a huge scam?