Officials from the Environmental Protection Agency said that the Gold King Mine has discharged almost three million gallons of water into the Animas River, three times the initial estimate. The mine which has been inactive since 1923, started spilling toxic waste water into the Animas River as early as Wednesday. The EPA has taken responsibility for breaching of a debris dam near the Gold King Mine, which has caused this environmental catastrophe.
The mine continues to release 500 gallons per minute. Preliminary testing data released by the EPA showed arsenic levels at 300 times the normal level in the Durango area of the Animas River while lead was 3,500 times the normal level. Officials said those levels have dropped significantly since the plume moved through the area. "Yes, those numbers are high and they seem scary," said Deborah McKean, chief of the Region 8 Toxicology and Human Health and Risk Assessment. "But it's not just a matter of toxicity of the chemicals; it's a matter of exposure." Both metals pose a significant danger to humans at high levels of concentration, reports USA Today.
Many people along the Animas River are without irrigation water, and some well users are on heightened alert for contamination. In an effort to contain the contamination, headgates along the river were closed in time to keep most of the water out. "We've been thorough and careful to have the ditch as closed off as we can," said Cecilia Whitaker, who is on the board for Animas Valley Ditch and Water Co, reports The Durango Herald.
Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye will declare a state of emergency in response to the widespread impact of toxic metals flowing into the San Juan River via the Animas River. Begaye said he that he had directed Navajo Nation Attorney General Ethel Branch to assemble a legal team to file a lawsuit against the EPA. "They are impacting the livelihood of our people," he said, in an interview with The Daily Times.
Meanwhile, La Plata County Manager Joe Kerby informed that the cities of Durango, and La Plata County, Colo., had declared a state of emergency early Sunday, due to the "serious nature of the incident," reports USA Today.
The EPA continued to face a lot of flak, for its responses, or lack of them. "It's completely irresponsible for the EPA not to have informed New Mexico immediately," said New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez referring to the fact that the state's first notification of the spill came from Southern Ute Tribe officials.
The EPA was similarly criticized by the State Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn who said the agency's initial response to the disaster was "cavalier and irresponsible," referring to the fact that the EPA did not notify his department of the spill until almost 24 hours after they had caused it.
