The two tales of the story of the EPA mine spill

Anyone who has been out Durango way knows the beauty that abounds.Heavy metals don’t just disappear in a couple of weeks. Just take a look at two angles of the story of the mine spill by the EPA. Had this been a private company the story would have been a headliner all day everyday. And the Native American Indians? EPA trying to pull a fast one. Rumor is they want to hide the contractor and their involvement with contributions. We will wait on that one.

DURANGO, Colo. (Reuters) – The water quality of a southwestern Colorado river rendered bright orange by toxic waste spewed from an abandoned gold mine one week ago has returned to pre-existing levels, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency chief said on Wednesday.

The statement from EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, whose agency’s inspectors inadvertently triggered the spill during field work, came as Colorado health officials cleared the way for the city of Durango, just downstream, to reopen its drinking water intakes from the river.

Dilution has gradually diminished concentrations of contaminants such as arsenic, mercury and lead. But experts say deposits of heavy metals have settled into river sediments, where they can be churned up and unleash a new wave of pollution when storms hit or rivers run at flood stage.H/T:Yahoo News

Indians say EPA trying to swindle them in mine spill

The EPA is trying to cheat Navajo Indians by getting them to sign away their rights to future claims from the agency’s Gold King Mine disaster, tribal officials charged Wednesday, adding more to the administration’s public relations problems over the spill that threatens critical Southwest waterways.

Environmental Protection Agency officials were going door to door asking Navajos, some of whom don’t speak English as their primary language, to sign a form that offers to pay damages incurred so far from the spill, but waiving the right to come back and ask for more if their costs escalate or if they discover bigger problems, Navajo President Russell Begaye told The Washington Times.