Toxic Waste In River Contaminated By EPA, Reaches New Mexico

Fact checked
toxic waste

The toxic waste, including arsenic and lead, which was accidentally spilled into a river in southwest Colorado, has now crossed the state border into New Mexico.

More than 550 gallons per minute are entering the water flow system according to the Environmental Protection Agency, which caused the spill.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that a cleanup team was working with heavy equipment Wednesday to secure an entrance to the Gold King Mine. Workers instead released an estimated 1 million gallons of mine waste into Cement Creek.

RT reports: The agency says it should have the results of samples undergoing lab testing soon, so they can find out just how contaminated the river has become. Aside from lead and arsenic, federal officials say the spill also contains, cadmium, aluminum, copper and calcium.

High levels of arsenic can cause blindness, paralysis and cancer, while lead poisoning can create muscle and vision problems in adults and can be fatal for children.

“We’re busting our tails to get that out,” Environmental Protection Agency Regional Director Shaun McGrath said, as cited by AP. “We know the importance to people to have this information.”

The bright orange toxic sludge, which entered the Animas River in Colorado, has now crossed the state border into New Mexico and reached the city of Aztec on Friday night. Local communities in both states are not happy and have blasted the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for being slow in warning residents after the spill took place.

“There’s not a lot we can do. We can keep people away (from the river) and keep testing. We still don’t know how bad it is,” San Juan County Emergency Management Director Don Cooper said, according to AP.

Officials in the cities of Aztec and Farmington say they have shut down the river’s access to water treatment plants, adding that the communities had a 90-day supply of water.

The Animas flows into the San Juan River in New Mexico, and the San Juan flows into Utah, where it joins the Colorado River in Lake Powell. There are also reports that the contaminated water is heading towards Utah.

The EPA says they have finished building two containment ponds, which are aimed at treating the toxic sludge in the river. However, this is very much a short-term plan, while the long-term issue of cleaning up the spill will take some time according to McGrath.

“The sediment, the metals that are in that sediment are going to settle out to the stream bottom,” he said. “As we have storm surges, as we have flooding events, that sediment can and likely will get kicked back up into the water. We’re going to have to do ongoing monitoring,” McGrath added.

4 Comments

  1. I’m sure no one will lose their job over this major F up. Incompetence is off the charts with this government and the citizens will pay the price. Pathetic!!

  2. I’m sure no one will lose their job over this major F up. Incompetence is off the charts with this government and the citizens will pay the price. Pathetic!!

  3. …and, THIS is why we chose to live on much higher ground in NM, (3/4’s up the Sandia mountains). However, this somehow doesn’t make things better in any way, as clean water is something of a commodity in many areas, especially coming down from CO. So? I guess that the pukes that are to blame for this Environmental freaking disgrace will be doing what now..?!? It isn’t as though there is a method that can just separate these chemicals from water…It’s not as if it is a slick, nope, this is now a river of poison, snaking it’s way across two states now…

    I sometimes wonder, between the two, whom will be the last organism on this globe of garbage…Man, whom managed to do this to a billions-of-years old-planet in less than 2 measly centuries, or? The flora and faunae, which definitely are not known for dumping Hazardous waste, over-population, and greed driven garbage, like so many of what fuels the now sad human spirit.

  4. …and, THIS is why we chose to live on much higher ground in NM, (3/4’s up the Sandia mountains). However, this somehow doesn’t make things better in any way, as clean water is something of a commodity in many areas, especially coming down from CO. So? I guess that the pukes that are to blame for this Environmental freaking disgrace will be doing what now..?!? It isn’t as though there is a method that can just separate these chemicals from water…It’s not as if it is a slick, nope, this is now a river of poison, snaking it’s way across two states now…

    I sometimes wonder, between the two, whom will be the last organism on this globe of garbage…Man, whom managed to do this to a billions-of-years old-planet in less than 2 measly centuries, or? The flora and faunae, which definitely are not known for dumping Hazardous waste, over-population, and greed driven garbage, like so many of what fuels the now sad human spirit.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.