HIGH COURT WON’T HEAR GOLD KING CASE

The U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear arguments on a New Mexico lawsuit against Colorado over a 2015 Gold King Mine disaster that polluted rivers in both states and Utah.

The nation’s high court made the announcement Monday. But the justices did say New Mexico could pursue its claims in a lower court.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman praised the decision and said New Mexico should not have sued Colorado because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency caused the disaster.

“Now that my office has won the Supreme Court case, I hope the conversation can focus on the EPA and its promise to take full responsibility for its actions,” Coffman said in a statement.

An EPA crew accidentally triggered the August 2015 spill at the abandoned Gold King Mine in southwest Colorado.

The spill released 3 million gallons of water laden with arsenic, cadmium, copper and other heavy metals.