2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill

2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill
The Animas River between Silverton and Durango within 24 hours of the spill. The river turned yellow from the oxidation of dissolved iron in the escaped waste water.[1]
DateAugust 5, 2015 (2015-08-05)
LocationGold King Mine
Silverton, Colorado, United States
Coordinates37°53′40″N 107°38′18″W / 37.89444°N 107.63833°W / 37.89444; -107.63833
CauseAccidental waste water release, approx. 3 million US gal (11,000 m3)
ParticipantsEnvironmental Protection Agency
OutcomeRiver closures (until about Aug 17 with ongoing tests)
Ongoing water supply & irrigation issues
Waterways affectedAnimas and San Juan rivers
States affectedColorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah
WebsiteEPA updates
Gold King Mine is located in Colorado
Gold King Mine
Gold King Mine
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Spill site shown within Colorado

The 2015 Gold King Mine waste water spill was an environmental disaster that began at the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado,[2] when Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) personnel, along with workers for Environmental Restoration LLC (a Missouri company under EPA contract to mitigate pollutants from the closed mine), caused the release of toxic waste water into the Animas River watershed. They caused the accident by breaching a tailings dam while attempting to drain ponded water near the entrance of the mine on August 5.[3] After the spill, the Silverton Board of Trustees and the San Juan County Commission approved a joint resolution seeking Superfund money.[4]

Contractors accidentally destroyed the plug holding water trapped inside the mine, which caused an overflow of the pond, spilling three million US gallons (eleven thousand cubic metres) of mine waste water and tailings, including heavy metals such as cadmium and lead, and other toxic elements, such as arsenic,[5] beryllium,[5] zinc,[5] iron[5] and copper[5] into Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River and part of the San Juan River and Colorado River watershed.[6] The EPA was criticized for not warning Colorado and New Mexico about the operation until the day after the waste water spilled, despite the fact the EPA employee "in charge of Gold King Mine knew of blowout risk."[7]

The EPA has taken responsibility for the incident, but refused to pay for any damages claims filed after the accident on grounds of sovereign immunity, pending special authorization from Congress or re-filing of lawsuits in federal court.[8] Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper declared the affected area a disaster zone. The spill affected waterways of municipalities in the states of Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah, as well as the Navajo Nation. It is estimated that acidic water spilled at a rate of 500–700 US gal/min (1.9–2.6 m3/min) while remediation efforts were underway.[9] The event drew attention to toxic drainage from many similar abandoned mines throughout the country.[10][11]

  1. ^ "How are they going to clean up that Colorado mine spill?", The Christian Science Monitor, August 13, 2015
  2. ^ Schlanger, Zoë (August 7, 2015). "EPA Causes Massive Spill of Mining Waste Water in Colorado, Turns Animas River Bright Orange". Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  3. ^ Harder, Amy; Berzon, Alexandra; Forsyth, Jennifer (August 12, 2015). "EPA Contractor Involved in Colorado Spill Identified as Environmental Restoration". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved August 12, 2015.
  4. ^ "Silverton to seek federal cleanup help after Gold King Mine disaster". ABC 7 Denver. August 25, 2015. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  5. ^ a b c d e Cite error: The named reference denPost was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Kolb, Joseph J. (August 10, 2015). "'They're not going to get away with this': Anger mounts at EPA over mining spill". Fox News. Archived from the original on August 10, 2015. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
  7. ^ Jesse Paul (February 11, 2016). "EPA employee in charge of Gold King Mine knew of a blowout risk, e-mail shows". The Denver Post.
  8. ^ Elliott, Dan (January 13, 2017). "EPA Says It Can't Pay Economic Damages From Mine Spill". The Big Story. The Associated Press. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
  9. ^ "E.P.A. Treating Toxic Water From Abandoned Colorado Mine After Accident", NY Times, August 11, 2015
  10. ^ Hood, Grace (August 4, 2016). "One Year After A Toxic River Spill, No Clear Plan To Clean Up Western Mines". NPR.org. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  11. ^ Hood, Grace (October 15, 2015). "EPA To Launch Treatment Plant For Gold King Mine Wastewater". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved January 4, 2018.