EPA Workers trigger 1 million gallons of pollution into river.

[former9thward]

DURANGO — A spill that sent 1 million gallons of wastewater from an abandoned mine into the Animas River, turning the river orange, set off warnings Thursday that contaminants threaten water quality for those downstream.

The Environmental Protection Agency confirmed it triggered the spill while using heavy machinery to investigate pollutants at the Gold King Mine, north of Silverton.

Health and environmental officials are evaluating the river as it flows through San Juan and La Plata counties. They said the wastewater contained zinc, iron, copper and other heavy metals, prompting the EPA to warn agricultural users to shut off water intakes along the river and law officials to close the river to recreational users.

"There's nothing that can be done to stop the flow of the river," said Joe Lewandowski, a spokesman for Colorado Parks and Wildlife. "We can only wait until the flows slow down. We had a big heavy spring (of rain) here."



http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_28595759/animas-river-contaminated-by-1-million-gallons-contaminated

[Igel]

1. The EPA will immediate initiate a lawsuit against itself

and levy fines, will it not?

I mean, it's unforgiving when others do things like this. I expect the same exacting attitude towards itself.

/sarcasm off

[DustyJoe]

2. epa, Americas domestic worst enemy

Hopefully they will provide water for downstream communities and the Navajo tribe. I live 3 miles from the river and 24 miles south of Durango. Domestic water comes from this river for many communities and the the Animas river merges with the San Juan river on the southwest edge of Farmington NM. The feds better activate fema or military to get water to these areas, the plume is over 45 miles long and all the communities have to stop pumping water to their water systems.

http://www.daily-times.com/four_corners-news/ci_28601678/officials-declare-state-emergency-close-animas-river-san

The same epa that sues landowners for letting rainwater collect on private land or in a rain barrel.

[tabasco]

3. Take your anti-EPA garbage somewhere else

The EPA has never sued anybody for collecting rainwater in a rain barrel. Therefore, you are a liar or believe everything you read on right wing nutjob websites like Fox "News."

In fact, the EPA encourages the collection and use of rain water.


http://water.epa.gov/infrastructure/greeninfrastructure/upload/gi_munichandbook_harvesting.pdf

[DustyJoe]

8. okay

Bring your rah-rah EPA garbage here and get a cold glass of river water to quench your thirst then.

The EPA let some 3 stooges equipment operator breach the containment area and now affects 3 states, the largest native tribe in the US. All irrigation, livestock water, recreation use is shut down for many miles for an unknown time and will poison who knows how much wildlife because the agency that will sue you at the drop of a hat if you let water collect that 'might' get polluted get downstream. Seems like the EPA is going to be known as the worst polluter of 2015. We're the government and we're here to help you.

Let me know if you're in the area and i'll have a cold glass saved and ready for you.

[louis-t]

30. (spouts Ronald Reagan talking point)

Yes, of course the EPA "let" some guy "breach the containment area". Did it on purpose, they did. Sat there and watched him do it. Then laughed about it, I'm sure.

[LanternWaste]

37. One oil and three mining companies already have that locked up.

" Seems like the EPA is going to be known as the worst polluter of 2015..."

One oil and three mining companies already have that locked up. Bless your little heart. Good luck!

[Travis_0004]

52. http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-man-sentenced-30-days-jail-collecting-rainwater-his-property

It does happen

[KamaAina]

51. If you're thinking of the case in Oregon (a well-known RW talking point)

it was the state, not the EPA, that sued the landowner, because he was illegally channeling runoff away from the stream that bordered his land.

[likesmountains 52]

4. A portion of my drinking water comes from this river..

No one is sure when it will be safe to drink again.

[Kingofalldems]

5. Well the republicans want to abolish the EPA.

What do you think?

[former9thward]

6. Link to where anyone wants to abolish the EPA.

I won't lose sleep when you don't do it.

[Kingofalldems]

7. Here you go:

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/joni-ernst-bruce-braley-clash-over-epa-in-debate-111810.html

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/republicans-put-the-epa-their-crosshairs

http://www.publicintegrity.org/2015/02/05/16695/republicans-used-support-epa-says-former-administrator

I just did it. Looks like you need to do some studying.

[RandiFan1290]

18. Must be a long nap

[tosh]

9. ..

[stevenleser]

29. You didn't know that many Republicans want to abolish the EPA?

Every four years Republican Presidential candidates talk about how they want to do it.

[former9thward]

32. Romney never said that.

McCain didn't in 2008. Before that I don't know.

[stevenleser]

40. Notice I didn't say nominees. Most of the folks who have ran have said so. But in terms of Romney

He and McCain basically wanted to neuter the EPA. So it would still be around, just completely powerless.

[former9thward]

43. I am not a hyper partisan.

You can always find candidates running in either party who say out of the park statements just to get some coverage. That does not mean the mainstream party has that position. But if you are a partisan then you take those statements and say "See this party stands for this!" No question the Rs want to weaken the EPA but they do not want to abolish it. The EPA was created by Nixon and Reagan and the two Bush presidents. They increased its budget every year.

[Lancero]

44. Here, have some bedtime stories

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Abolish+the+EPA

[former9thward]

46. I am not going to click that link.

No idea what it is. I go by official party positions anyway.

[Lancero]

47. Uh huh.

Keep moving that goalpost.

[former9thward]

48. Your game, not mine.

[Lancero]

49. I forgot, what did you ask for?

Oh yeah - Links to people calling for the EPA to be abolished.

Now a backtrack on thats.

Enjoy your games.

[former9thward]

50. A poster stated the R party wanted to abolish the EPA.

I asked for a link to that. None was supplied because that is not their position. They want to weaken it, not abolish it.

[Lancero]

53. And you asked to a link to ANYONE wanting to abolish the EPA.

If you meant Republicans, why say anyone?

Don't recall saying that? Here, lemme refresh your memory...

[img][/img]

[former9thward]

54. You don't want to show the previous post I was replying to, do you?

Well everyone else can see it and knows the context of my remark. But continue to play your games. BTW thanks for all the kicks!

[Lancero]

55. Keep moving the goalposts.

Enjoy your games.

[former9thward]

56. Thanks for the kick!

[hunter]

10. That mine leaks continuously into the river...

... so much so that there were no fish miles downstream of it.

If the EPA contractors hadn't busted the thing open by accident, it probably would have busted open on its own someday soon, maybe even releasing more crud.

They were attempting to install a system to dewater the mine, pumping the contaminated water out in a controlled manner and treating it before it got into the river.

The root cause of the pollution wasn't the EPA, it was the crappy mine itself, and the general attitude that "what you can't see can't hurt you;" the head-in-the-sand notion that actually measuring and treating the toxic mine waste would be bad for Colorado's tourism, ranching, and mining industries.

[greatlaurel]

11. Exactly. This is a Superfund site. Silverton officials opposed the designation and clean up.

"Holly Jobson, 62, walking at noon along banks where yellow sediment was glomming onto rocks, said Silverton ought to push for a proper federal cleanup around mines. Silverton officials in the past have resisted, fearing the stigma of a federal Superfund cleanup designation and the impact on tourism.

"I don't know why we can't get the best possible cleanup," Jobson said. "This is awful. All that wildlife along the river. It may kill everything. And the water. Rivers are wonderful. And to have this happen?""

http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_28601566/animas-river-spill-leaves-durango-officials-edge-waiting?source=pkg

[Sunlei]

12. oh, how disgusting, gold mine spent/used toxic water :(

can't they make the gold mining corp. suck up up every drop of that toxic water and replace it with fresh water.

Even if they have to pay the costs to fly in and out water tanks with tanker trucks helicopters for several months

[greatlaurel]

13. Where is the outrage these mines have been allowed to leak and degrade these rivers for decades?

http://www2.epa.gov/region8/upper-animas-mining-district

"Background

EPA and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) conducted a Superfund Site Assessment of the site in the 1990s. This assessment identified the severe impacts to aquatic life in the UA and its tributaries from naturally occurring and mining-related heavy metals. It also acknowledged the community-based collaborative effort that was under way at that time to address those impacts. In recognition of the community-based collaborative effort, EPA agreed to postpone adding all or a portion of the site to the Superfund National Priorities List (NPL), as long as progress was being made to improve the water quality of the Animas River.

In support of the collaborative effort, EPA’s Superfund Remedial program has contributed resources for water quality sampling, ecological risk assessment and data analysis. In addition, the Superfund Removal program has contributed resources for the investigation and closure (bulkheading) of the Red and Bonita Mine tunnel.

EPA, through its Ecosystem Protection program, also provides the Colorado Water Quality Division of CDPHE with Nonpoint Source Management program (Section 319) grant funds. ARSG and others have received grants under that program for investigation and cleanup efforts in the watershed.

Until approximately 2005, water quality in the Animas River was improving. However, since 2005, water quality in the Animas River has not improved and, for at least 20 miles below the confluence with Cement Creek, has declined significantly.

Because of this declining water quality in the Animas River, in 2008, EPA’s Superfund Site Assessment program began investigations in Upper Cement Creek focused on evaluating whether the Upper Cement Creek area alone would qualify for inclusion on the NPL. This evaluation indicated that the area would qualify, although after receiving additional community input, EPA again postponed efforts to include the area on the NPL. Since that time, EPA has continued and broadened its investigations of conditions at the site in order to understand the major sources of heavy metal contamination in the UA."



http://www2.epa.gov/region8/gold-king-mine-release-emergency-response

"Gold King Mine Release Emergency Response

(August 7, 2015) — On August 5, 2015, EPA was conducting an investigation of the Gold King Mine. The intent of the investigation was to assess the on-going water releases from the mine and to treat mine water and to assess the feasibility of further mine remediation. The plan was to excavate the loose material that had collapsed into the cave entry back to the timbering. During the excavation, the loose material gave way, opening the adit (mine tunnel) and spilling the water stored behind the collapsed material into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River.

Initial estimates are that the release contained approximately one million gallons of water (estimated from the dimensions of the mine adit) that was held behind unconsolidated debris near an abandoned mine portal. There were several workers at the site at the time of the breach, all were unharmed.

The large pulse of water dissipated in about an hour. Today the water in Cement Creek and the Animas River in Silverton is clearing. The adit is still discharging lower flows into Cement Creek. Today, EPA is rebuilding settling ponds to treat these flows – the upper pond will be completed by early afternoon, and the lower pond by COB or early tomorrow. EPA will treat the mine water diverted to the ponds with caustic soda and flocculent once the ponds are built."

This is a disaster. The real problem is the fact that there are hundreds of superfund sites that are still not cleaned up. One of the most frequent "clean up" strategies is to cover the site and leave it in place. This strategy is cheapfor the corporations thatcreated the mess , but fails to protect citizens and the environment.

[Octafish]

14. Wouldn't it be great if the mining company would have to pay for clean-up?

Oops. I forgot! It's only fair that We the People pick up the tab, like we do for the warmongers and banksters.

[PowerToThePeople]

15. To blame the EPA for this is playing into Republican hands. n/t

[former9thward]

17. They blamed themselves.

I guess you missed that part....

[Orrex]

22. Did they blame themselves for accumulating millions of gallons of filth?

Under shoddy, unsustainable conditions? I guess I missed that part.


The accident was the EPA's fault in the same way that an escalator collapse is the fault of the guy who got crushed by it.

[former9thward]

23. No, they blamed themselves for causing the release.

Your analogy is a fail.

[Orrex]

24. Well, let me put it another way

The accident was the EPA's fault in the same way that an escalator collapse is the fault of the guy who got crushed by it.


It was a disaster waiting to happen. It's unfortunate that the attempted clean-up hastened the disaster, but the mining company is still at fault.

It's rather like the way Republicans have attacked Obama for failing to correct the Republican-wrought economic disaster fast enough.

[former9thward]

25. If a company caused the release they would be fined by the EPA.

And shown no mercy. The EPA causes a disaster and they say "Oh well"... That mine has been inactive since the 1920s. To say a long ago mine company is responsible for something that occurred almost 100 years later is ridiculous.

[Orrex]

26. You're right--it's the EPA's fault that the company didn't clean up its shit

What, exactly, do you think the EPA should have done instead?

How, exactly, do you think the EPA should punish itself?

What, exactly, do you think should be changed for next time?

How, exactly, should this almost entirely toothless agency fulfill its duties when it's been aggressively opposed by corporate interests and corporate-friendly legislators for decades?

[former9thward]

31. It should certainly pay for all the damages done downstream.

As it would require any company to do. What would you do? Dig up the mine owner's from their graves and make them pay?

[Orrex]

33. What if the dump had happened on its own, as it certainly would have?

As was noted upthread, the mine was already poisoning the river, and it was only a matter of time before the dump occurred anyway.

Who should have been fined in that case?

[former9thward]

35. I reject your "it was only a matter of time" theory.

No evidence of that.

[Orrex]

36. Right. The leaky, abandoned, century-old mine would have lasted forever

Leaking consistently, as it's been doing for decades. But that's apparently fine.

[LanternWaste]

38. Your rejection is predicated on what specific man-made structure which never degraded over time?

Your rejection is predicated on what specific man-made structure which never degraded over time?

[former9thward]

39. I said there was no evidence.

You have never been to the site and you did not see what happened. Yet you appear to know everything about it.

[Calista241]

42. Why not blame the EPA?

They're the ones that went in there and unleashed this disaster.

By and large, the EPA does good work in this country, but this is a colossal fuck up.

The better strategy is to clean this the fuck up and draw attention to the need to clean up the other toxic shitholes in our country.

[lonestarnot]

16. Fucking A is the flow still constant with this crap?

[Recursion]

20. That's about 3 minutes of the river's flow rate

And if I'm reading it right the discharge happened over the course of two days.

[lonestarnot]

57. And continues today. What fucking moron did this?

[yuiyoshida]

19. Not that this is a joke but

Wasn't it that government guy in the Ghost Buster movie that ordered the shut down of their containment system, thus setting all of that energy free? Sorry, for some reason, this reminded me of that, the government making things accidentally worse....

[Orrex]

21. Check out entry #5

6 Movies With Political Agendas You Didn't Notice

[Blue_In_AK]

27. And this is exactly why

the Pebble Mine at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, one of the last great salmon spawning areas on earth, must be stopped. There is NO safe way to contain this crap.

[lonestarnot]

59. Yes! Stop them. What are they trying to dig up there?

[Blue_In_AK]

60. Copper and gold.

I don't have anything against mining, per se, but they really need to protect the waters. Pebble is truly a horrifying prospect, and I urge everyone to lobby whoever they can to stop this.

This is a good place to start:

http://www.savebristolbay.org/about-the-bay/about-pebble-mine

[lonestarnot]

61. Copper and gold can be found elsewhere and this bullshit is not for the greater good use of

finite resource. Fuck the enrichment of these mine owner fuckwits to the sacrifice of the greater good! I will start!

[Blue_In_AK]

62. Thank you.

It is a serious issue here and almost universally opposed except among certain power brokers. We keep having small victories and small defeats ... what really needs to happen is for the land to be declared off limits in perpetuity, as a national park or monument, or somehow set aside to prevent this kind of atrocity. You are right, copper and gold can be found other, less sensitive, places. To potentially destroy this tremendous renewable resource - i.e., the fish - for some short-term profit of a very few people is insane. Not to mention if there were ever a breach in this earthen dam, all of the people in the villages downstream would be threatened.

[lonestarnot]

63. Navajo Nation of 4 corners is being threatened by spill by EPA from an old mine. We just suck ass.

[kwolf68]

28. Republicans on facebook are joyous

They are so stupid. It wasn't like the EPA was TRYING to pollute the river. Good god...I am glad they are now "concerned" about the environment, but in their feeble minds they forget that the companies that produced this nasty shit have NOT PAID for the cleanup, which should be a FACTOR of production. FREE market economics says the factors of production in bringing a product to market should be borne by the consumer. But it's not....companies rape the environment, sell their shit at below market wages, the product demand outstrips supply and the government (taxpayers, people NOT privvy to the transaction) take on some of the "costs of production".

Simple Econ 101...their hatred for the EPA and the government (except those parts of government involved in killing people and waging wars) is so strong they totally miss the fact their own stupid principles are being sacrificed for idle hatred. That's assuming they even fucking know what free market economics REALLY is. Hell, they constantly get socialism all messed up, I am sure they lack general understanding of market economics as well.

DOLTS!

[B Calm]

34. Why didn't the mining company clean up their mess before abandoning the mine?

[Calista241]

41. The mine was abandon in 1920.

Who knows what regulations, if any, were in effect back then.

[B Calm]

45. That's a long time ago. I worked for a cellophane company

that was open in 1956 and closed down in 1997. The company is a fortune 500 company even today. We had two unlined landfills on the property and the garbage was covered over everyday with coal ash from the powerhouse. They left the mess buried in the ground and this old abandoned landfill is on the banks of the Wabash River. The fortune 500 company that ran the factory sold it to an unscrupulous business man who ran it for ten years and then filed bankruptcy. I look for this landfill to come back and haunt us someday and the taxpayers will end up paying to clean it up.

[lonestarnot]

58. So does the federal government now own the shit?