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| By August 10, the waste had reached the ] in ] and Shiprock (part of the ]), with no evidence to that date of human injury or wildlife die-off. The heavy metals appeared to be settling to the bottom of the river because largely, they are ] unless the water becomes very acidic.<ref name = AP>{{Cite web| title = Residents demand health answers as mine spill fouls rivers| work = Yahoo News| url = http://news.yahoo.com/epa-colorado-mine-waste-spill-larger-first-reported-080605079.html}}</ref> The waste was initially expected to reach ] by August 12,<ref name="aug10spillfox"/> but had not yet reached it or the portion of the San Juan River within Glen Canyon by midday.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.lakepowellchronicle.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=77&story_id=4877 | title=Gold King Mine spill update | work=] | date=August 12, 2015 | accessdate=August 12, 2015}}</ref> | By August 10, the waste had reached the ] in ] and Shiprock (part of the ]), with no evidence to that date of human injury or wildlife die-off. The heavy metals appeared to be settling to the bottom of the river because largely, they are ] unless the water becomes very acidic.<ref name = AP>{{Cite web| title = Residents demand health answers as mine spill fouls rivers| work = Yahoo News| url = http://news.yahoo.com/epa-colorado-mine-waste-spill-larger-first-reported-080605079.html}}</ref> The waste was initially expected to reach ] by August 12,<ref name="aug10spillfox"/> but had not yet reached it or the portion of the San Juan River within Glen Canyon by midday.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.lakepowellchronicle.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=77&story_id=4877 | title=Gold King Mine spill update | work=] | date=August 12, 2015 | accessdate=August 12, 2015}}</ref> | ||
| Stream conditions temporarily returned to those that had been common 20 years earlier.<ref>Schemel, L.E., and Cox, M.H. (2005) "Descriptions of the Animas River-Cement Creek Confluence and Mixing Zone near Silverton, Colorado, during the Late Summers of 1996 and 1997 " URL accessed 2015-08-12.</ref> The waste water in this incident is classic ], which is common around the world where subsurface mining exposes metal sulfide minerals such as pyrite to water and air. The release volume was equivalent to less than 1 hour of Animas River streamflow above Cement Creek (120 ft3/s) on the day of the spill or 11 minutes of streamflow downstream at Durango, Colorado, the next day (600 ft3/s).<ref> URL accessed 2015-08-12.</ref> Extensive research has been published for the Cement Creek basin and similar watersheds affected by acid mine drainage at ], and elsewhere.<ref>"Bibliography, Watershed Contamination from Hard-Rock Mining — Hardrock Mining in Rocky Mountain Terrain — Upper Arkansas River, Colorado " URL accessed 2015-08-12.</ref> | |||
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Revision as of 18:29, 12 August 2015
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. Feel free to improve this article or discuss changes on the talk page, but please note that updates without valid and reliable references will be removed. (August 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
 Entrance to Gold King Mine from EPA site management web site | |
| Date | August 5, 2015 (2015-08-05) |
|---|---|
| Location | Gold King Mine Silverton, Colorado, U.S. |
| Cause | Accidental wastewater release, approx. 3,000,000 US gallons (11,000,000 litres; 2,500,000 imperial gallons) |
| Participants | Environmental Protection Agency |
| Outcome | River closures (until about Aug 17 with ongoing tests) |
| Waterways affected | Animas and San Juan rivers |
| States affected | Colorado, New Mexico, Utah |
| Website | EPA updates |
The 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill is a 2015 environmental disaster at the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. On August 5, 2015, when trying to add a tap to the tailing pond for the mine, United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers accidentally destroyed the dam holding back the pond, spilling 3,000,000 US gallons (11,000,000 L) of polluted mine waste water and tailings, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other elements, such as arsenic, into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River in Colorado. The EPA was criticized for not warning Colorado and New Mexico until the day after the waste water spilled.
The EPA has taken responsibility for the incident and the governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper, declared the zone a disaster. The spill affects waterways of municipalities in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah as well as the Navajo Nation. As of August 11, toxic water continued to spill at a rate of 500–700 US gallons per minute (1.9–2.6 m/min) while remediation efforts were underway.
Background
Gold mines in the hills around Gold King were the primary income and economy for the region until the last closure of a mine around Silverton in 1991. Prior to the spill, the Upper Animas water basin had become devoid of fish, because of the environmental impact of regional mines such as Gold King. Other plant and animal species were adversely affected in the watershed before the Gold King Mine breach, as well.
In the 1990s, sections of the Animas had been nominated by the EPA as a Superfund site for clean-up of pollutants from the Gold King Mine and other mining operations along the river, but lack of community support prevented its listing. Locals had feared that the label of a Superfund site would reduce the tourism in the area, the largest remaining source of income left in the region after the closure of the metal mines. Officials have noted that the mine is only one of 22,000 abandoned mines in the state.
Heavy metals
The EPA reported, August 10, 2015, that levels of six metals were above limits allowed by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for domestic water. The department requires municipalities to cease to use water when the levels in it exceed the limits. Some metals were found at hundreds of times their limits, e.g. lead 100 times the limit, iron 326 times the limit. The measurement was made 15 miles (24 km) upstream from Durango.
Environmental impact
As of August 10, the Animas River was closed indefinitely, and county officials warned river visitors to stay out of the water. Residents with wells in floodplains were told to have their water tested before drinking it or bathing in it. People were told to avoid contact with the river, including by their pets, that farmed animals should not be allowed to drink the water and people should not catch fish in the river. The Navajo Nation Commission on Emergency Management issued a state of emergency declaration in response to the spill.
People living along the Animas and San Juan rivers were advised to have their water tested before using it for cooking, drinking, or bathing. The spill also was expected to cause major problems for farmers and ranchers who rely on the rivers for their livelihoods.
The long-term impacts of the spill were unknown, but sedimentation is expected to dilute the pollutants as the spill cloud moves downstream. The mine tailings changed the color of the river to orange.
By August 7, the waste reached Aztec, New Mexico, then the next day, it reached Farmington, New Mexico.
By August 10, the waste had reached the San Juan River in New Mexico and Shiprock (part of the Navajo Nation), with no evidence to that date of human injury or wildlife die-off. The heavy metals appeared to be settling to the bottom of the river because largely, they are insoluble unless the water becomes very acidic. The waste was initially expected to reach Lake Powell by August 12, but had not yet reached it or the portion of the San Juan River within Glen Canyon by midday.
Government response
The EPA has taken responsibility for the incident. Although the river turned a bright orange-yellow soon after the incident, the EPA failed to notify local residents of the spill for more than 24 hours. Press and local officials sharply criticized the EPA for this slow response.
On August 8, the governor of Colorado, John Hickenlooper declared the zone a disaster.
On August 11, New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency in her state after viewing the affected river from a helicopter, and said her administration was ready to seek legal action against the EPA.
Multiple municipalities and jurisdictions along the course of the river, including the Navajo Nation, stopped drawing drinking water from the Animas River because of the contamination by heavy metals.
See also
References
- Schlanger, Zoë (August 7, 2015). "EPA Causes Massive Spill of Mining Waste Water in Colorado, Turns Animas River Bright Orange". Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ^ "Animas River mine disaster: Arsenic, cadmium, lead broke water limits".
- ^ Kolb, Jsoeph J. (August 10, 2015). "'They're not going to get away with this': Anger mounts at EPA over mining spill". Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- "E.P.A. Treating Toxic Water From Abandoned Colorado Mine After Accident", NY Times, August 11, 2015
- ^ Kaplan, Sarah (August 10, 2015). "What the EPA was doing when it sent yellow sludge spilling into a Colorado creek". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286.
- ^ "Residents demand health answers as mine spill fouls rivers". Yahoo News.
- "Animas mine disaster arsenic, cadmium, lead broke water limits". denverpost.com.
- "Environmental Agency Uncorks Its Own Toxic Water Spill at Colorado Mine", NY Times, August 10, 2015
- "EPA: Pollution from mine spill much worse than feared", USA Today, August 10, 2015
- "'They're not going to get away with this': Anger mounts at EPA over mining spill", Fox News, August 10, 2015
- ^ "Gold mine's toxic plume extends to Utah". USA TODAY.
- Castillo, Mariano (August 10, 2015). "Pollution flowing faster than facts in EPA spill". CNN. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - "Gold King Mine spill update". Lake Powell Chronicle. August 12, 2015. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
- Heck, Kaylee (August 10, 2015). "Three Million Gallons of Contaminated Water Turns River Orange in Colorado". Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- "Contamination in Animas River becomes 'Declaration of Emergency'". KRQE News 13. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
37°53′40″N 107°38′18″W / 37.89444°N 107.63833°W / 37.89444; -107.63833
External links
Categories:- Current events from August 2015
- 2015 disasters in the United States
- 2015 in Colorado
- 2015 in New Mexico
- 2015 in the environment
- 2015 in Utah
- 2015 industrial disasters
- Disasters in Colorado
- Disasters in New Mexico
- Disasters in Utah
- Environmental disasters in the United States
- Navajo Nation
- United States Environmental Protection Agency
- Waste disposal incidents