Toxic water floods crucial river
Heavy metals from a gold mine spill into the Animas and are headed to Lake Powell and Colorado River.
DURANGO, Colo. — Federal officials scrambled Saturday to contain a spreading environmental disaster that began after a million gallons of contaminated water spilled from an old gold mine, flooding the Animas River and threatening crucial waterways throughout the Southwest.
The accident, which occurred during an Environmental Protection Agency cleanup operation Wednesday, triggered a toxic plume turning the beloved, crystal clear Animas the color of mustard. Some residents reportedly wept as officials shut down the river and urged people to conserve drinking water.
The fluorescent sludge, moving at 5 mph, kept going, reaching Farmington and Aztec, N.M., on Saturday as it headed for the San Juan River, Lake Powell and the Colorado River.
Portable labs for testing well water are being rushed to the Farmington area as residents, farmers and others nervously wait for answers on whether the water is safe for them and their livestock.
Unfortunately, answers were few.
In a conference call with reporters, regional heads of the EPA said the amount of water rushing from the defunct Gold King Mine, above the town of Silverton, had decreased from 740 gallons per minute to 548 gallons. And it’s now being collected in a settling pond and treated to make it less toxic.
Still, the officials said they have no idea how much water remained in the mine.
The mine water contains heavy metals such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, aluminum and copper. Pressed on whether the river water now contains arsenic, the officials said laboratory testing wouldn’t be completed for another 24 hours.
“The EPA has recognized the significance of this event and we are responding accordingly,” said Shaun McGrath, regional EPA administrator for Colorado. “Hopefully, we will get the results soon so we can understand the impact on agriculture, stock water, swimming, boating and human contact.”
He said the spill will have long-term effects as the heavy metals settle on the river bottom and then are stirred up by rain and runoff.
“We will have to do longterm monitoring and probably more closures in the future,” he said.
The accident occurred as the EPA was overseeing a cleanup crew trying to drain water from the mine into a series of holding ponds. The water surged, overwhelming the team and flooding into Cement Creek, which carried it to the Animas River, a primary source of drinking water for Durango.
In a public meeting Friday, David Ostrander, the EPA’s director of emergency preparedness for the region, was contrite.
“I’m very sorry,” he told the crowd. “This is a huge tragedy.”
No one knows that better than the people of Durango, a beautiful little town framed by mountains and the once-handsome 126mile-long Animas, famed for its trout and wild rapids.
But on Saturday the usually bustling river was empty, the water a sickly yellow. No rafters, no swimmers and no one fishing for cutthroat trout. Kayaks and big red inflatable rafts sat useless in parking lots. Companies that run river tours canceled hundreds of reservations during what should be their busiest month.
“We are estimating $150,000 in lost revenue this month,” said Alex Mickel, owner of Mild to Wild, the biggest rafting company in Durango. “The EPA failed to follow their own procedures — they admitted it. Now they need to help out the community economically.”
At Riverfront Park, sadness and anger hung in the air.
“There is usually wave after wave of people floating past, but today nothing,” said Sairi Dwyer, 32, watching the yellow water roll by. “The EPA causes all of this and then they say, ‘Oh well,’ and nothing happens. If you or I did this or anything close we’d be in jail.”
The plume has changed color as it has advanced, and some in New Mexico described it as more brown than yellow.
Jared L. McComas, a bartender in Farmington, said that he goes to the river almost every day. He was shocked by what he saw Saturday.
“It looks awful, it looks disgusting, I wouldn’t stay anywhere near the river,” he said. “Every one of my customers that comes in, I tell them not to go.”