Toxic spill in Colorado

[classical_hero]

http://edition.cnn.com/2015/08/11/us/epa-river-spill-animas-colorado-new-mexico/

Colorado's top health official signaled that the 3 million gallons of spilled wastewater that contaminated the Animas River last week may not pose a health risk.

The heavy-metals-laden contaminants turned the Animas River a shade of mustard fit for a Crayola crayon box.

Fears of serious health risks quickly surfaced, but Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment Executive Director Larry Wolk said Tuesday the river is returning to normal.

"We have our preliminary results back and at this point, we don't feel that there's any potential risk for human health," Wolk said.

Specifically, the levels of heavy metals in the Animas River near the city of Durango had returned to where they were before the spill, he said.

The river remains closed, but the go-ahead for business and recreational activities to resume could come soon, he said.

Hopefully the situation has been resolved and the source of the leaks has been stopped, but the dangers could last for a long time. Yikes.

 

[Birdjaguar]

It's a terrible mess and as the heavy metals settle along the bottom, they will be be with us for a long time. A huge snow pack winter might wash them into lake Powell one spring though.

 

[Kaitzilla]

It's pretty hilarious how the EPA caused this disaster.

The federal government's own Environmental Protection Agency caused the August 5 spill at the Gold King Mine in Colorado.

The EPA has been the source of frustration for many local and state leaders who say the agency didn't act fast enough to alert people about the spill, and didn't have conclusive research on the dangers posed.

Leading toxicologists say there could be health effects for many years to come from heavy metals such as lead and mercury that spilled into the water. Exposure to high levels of these metals can cause an array of health problems from cancer to kidney disease to developmental problems in children.

In its latest statement, however, the EPA also predicted low risk levels.

"Based on the data we have seen so far, (the EPA doesn't) anticipate adverse health effects from exposure to the metals detected in the river water samples from skin contact or incidental (unintentional) ingestion," the agency said. "Similarly, the risk of adverse effects to livestock that may have been exposed to metals detected in river water samples from ingestion or skin contact is low."

Will the EPA sue itself over this? Maybe fine itself?
I'm not sure they are up to protecting the environment against this latest villain.

 

[Birdjaguar]

It's pretty hilarious how the EPA caused this disaster.

Will the EPA sue itself over this? Maybe fine itself?
I'm not sure they are up to protecting the environment against this latest villain.

"Hilarious" is not a word I would use regardless of what organization caused it.

According to the EPA, the spill occurred when one of its teams was using heavy equipment to enter the Gold King Mine, a suspended mine near Durango. Instead of entering the mine and beginning the process of pumping and treating the contaminated water inside as planned, the team accidentally caused it to flow into the nearby Animas River. Before the spill, water carrying "metals pollution" was flowing into a holding area outside the mine.

Some poor equipment operator screwed up big time.

 

[Gucumatz]

Unfortunate would be the word I would use. Some conservative blogs are using this event as an attack against the EPA. Its clearly the EPA's fault and for not giving the warning sooner, but it shouldn't stop people from trusting the EPA

 

[bhavv]

Well as long as it missed my lovely shiny sand suede shoes, thank goodness!

Toxic waste may spill anywhere except for on my shoes.

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Obviously the EPA should be punished with massive budget cuts. This will give them an incentive to be more effective.

 

[useless]

It's pretty hilarious how the EPA caused this disaster.




Will the EPA sue itself over this? Maybe fine itself?
I'm not sure they are up to protecting the environment against this latest villain.

I too think massive ecological disasters are hilarious

 

[bhavv]

I don't think they are hilarious, I think they are glorious.

 

[gay_Aleks]

Gloriously hilarious or merely hilarious/glorious?

 

[Formaldehyde]

Will the EPA sue itself over this? Maybe fine itself?
I'm not sure they are up to protecting the environment against this latest villain.

Then I'm sure you would agree that the damage the Republicans have done to the EPA every time they elect a president or control Congress is criminal. That they actually belong behind bars for their deliberate reprehensible behavior. That the EPA should actually have far more resources than it now does to assure that the unscrupulous rich can no longer destroy the environment with impunity as they continue to do.

 

[amadeus]

Congressional Republicans should be in jail? Sounds like authoritarian conservative talk.

 

[El_Machinae]

It's pretty hilarious how the EPA caused this disaster.

Is it 'caused'? Or was it that the regulations they set weren't sufficient, and the company didn't voluntarily exceed the insufficient regulations?

I'm actually curious. Like, did the EPA say "you MUST put that byproduct in THOSE containers, that we have provided!" or was it "the byproduct MUST be put in containers that meet at least XYZ specifications!"

Those strike me as different things.

 

[BenitoChavez]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/us/durango-colorado-mine-spill-environmental-protection-agency.html?_r=0

On the day of the accident, a team from the agency had been investigating an abandoned mine about 50 miles north of here. Called the Gold King, it is roughly 1.5 miles long and about 700 feet tall at its highest point. The mine had been abandoned for nearly a century, but between roughly 1890 and 1920 it produced 350,000 ounces of high-grade gold, according to its owner.

For years, the Gold King has leaked toxic water at a rate of 50 to 250 gallons a minute. The agency had planned to find the source of the leak in the hope of one day stanching it. Instead, as workers used a backhoe to hack at loose material, a surprise deluge of orange water ripped through, spilling into Cement Creek and flowing into the Animas. The burst did not injure workers.

 

[Kaitzilla]

I suppose it is up to the lawyers to decide on the definition.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...r-loses-after-colorado-mine-spill-fouls-river

The Environmental Protection Agency and its contractors may have to pay millions of dollars in damages after mistakingly releasing toxic sludge that tainted a Colorado river, preventing its use by ranchers and residents.

Mustard-colored water continued to leak Monday from the long-abandoned Gold King Mine in Silverton, Colorado, and into the Animas River, after the EPA said it “unexpectedly triggered” a Aug. 5 blowout. The agency set up a claims process for losses from the 3 million gallons that leaked, three times more than initially estimated.

While the Clean Water Act and environmental rules often exempt federal agencies and clean-up personnel from legal liability, such protections are voided for negligence, or if the clean-up crew triggers a new pollution release.

“It’s certainly a black eye for the EPA,” said Thaddeus Lightfoot, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis who often represents industry clients facing action by the agency. “If EPA causes this kind of release, they need to be held responsible, just as a private party would be.”

Shouldn't be too long before the EPA releases a study showing how this will cause zero damage to the environment in both the short and long term.

They can quote this guy:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/10/us/epa-river-spill-residents/

And downplay these people:
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/10/us/animas-river-toxic-spill-colorado/

Not sure how CNN can publish two stories with opposite headlines on the same day.


At least the EPA has now apologized.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/epa-chi...ting-rivers-in-colorado-new-mexico-1439321379

Ms. McCarthy said her agency was “committed to a full review,” though she didn’t elaborate on what kind of review or whether it would be led by the EPA or another organization. “I am absolutely deeply sorry this ever happened,” she said.

The EPA chief plans to visit affected areas in Colorado and New Mexico on Wednesday to “inspect response efforts,” the agency said. The announcement came after a letter sent Tuesday by Mr. Gardner, Mr. Bennet and Rep. Scott Tipton (R., Colo.) requested that Ms. McCarthy visit.

“Nobody is going to take the attention away from EPA’s incompetence on this,” Mr. Gardner said. “If this was a private company, all hell would be breaking loose.”

In another letter sent to the EPA on Tuesday by Messrs. Gardner, Bennet and Tipton, the lawmakers requested the agency set up a long-term plan for habitat restoration and for small businesses affected by the spill, such as kayaking companies.

“EPA has to make it right just as a private company would have to,” Mr. Gardner said.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Congressional Republicans should be in jail? Sounds like authoritarian conservative talk.

Where else should the actual criminals be?

Oh, that's right. Being an authoritarian conservative yourself, you think they should get a free pass literally destroying the environment just so they can get even richer off the suffering and exploitation of others. After all, it's the American Way ®.

 

[Kaitzilla]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/11/us/durango-colorado-mine-spill-environmental-protection-agency.html?_r=0

Oh, it was already leaking?

Well, I'll give the EPA a break then.
Didn't know this was a disaster sitting on a hair trigger.

 

[Formaldehyde]

Well, you certainly aren't going to hear that on Fox News or similar "news" sources.

“It’s certainly a black eye for the EPA,” said Thaddeus Lightfoot, a partner at Dorsey & Whitney in Minneapolis who often represents industry clients facing action by the agency.

“Nobody is going to take the attention away from EPA’s incompetence on this,” Mr. Gardner said.

 

[Birdjaguar]

You have to keep in mind that the EPA was cleaning up someone else's mess. A careless worker (contractor maybe?)* made it worse. It is usually, but not always, the corporations who build financial success around leaving toxic waste for others to deal with.

*Maybe he was a tea party member who was just looking for a way to make the government look bad.

 

[GoodEnoughForMe]

All hell breaking loose when a private company screws up like this would be really cool if it did actually happen all the time, we could have used it in southwest Michigan a few years ago.