5th lawsuit filed against EPA over 2015 mine waste spill

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 4:30 pm CDT, Friday, August 10, 2018

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A fifth lawsuit has been filed against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over a mine waste spill the agency inadvertently triggered in 2015, polluting rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

The lawsuit was filed Aug. 3 in federal court in Albuquerque, New Mexico, by 295 Navajo farmers and ranchers. Their attorney, Kate Ferlic, said Friday the lawsuit asks for about $75 million.

The lawsuit claims farmers and ranchers lost crops and livestock and had to pay to haul clean water because the spill prevented them from using water from the polluted rivers.

. . .

Other defendants include eight companies and subsidiaries that were involved in mining in the area or worked for the EPA.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/medical/article/5th-lawsuit-filed-against-EPA-over-2015-mine-13147296.php

[Marcuse]

1. Had this happened under Pruitt, we'd have to question EPA's intent.

The bottom line is that the toxic waste has been disposed of without cost to the mine owner. An estimated 3 million gallons of wastewater poured out, carrying nearly 540 tons of metals, mostly iron and aluminum. Remember Flint.