The 2015 spill damaged the Animas and San Juan rivers, and Colorado wildlands are still paying the price.
Gold King Mine
Posted inEnvironment
New Mexico allocates grants from $32M Gold King mine spill settlement
The cities of Aztec and Farmington in San Juan County, the San Juan Soil and Water Conservation District, the state tourism department and the New Mexico State University Extension Service will all receive six-figure grants
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
New Mexico reaches $32M settlement over 2015 mine spill near Silverton
By Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — New Mexico and the U.S. government have reached a $32 million settlement over a 2015 mine spill that polluted rivers in three western states. Similar environmental accidents will be intolerable in the future as the region grapples with shrinking water supplies amid drought and climate […]
Posted inBusiness, Climate, Economy, Environment, News, Outdoors, Water
Climate change is eroding work to clean up the Snake River. Is Summit County snowmaking making it worse?
KEYSTONE – The Snake River wends through this resort village, rushing streamside condos, beckoning anglers to cast after rainbow trout and, at some point in the year, funneling into equipment Keystone ski area uses to make snow. But a few miles upstream, the river is a braid of smaller streams that scour a mineral-rich basin […]
Posted inClimate, Environment, News, Water
Federal government, Colorado and mining company reach $90 million settlement in Gold King mine spill
By James Anderson, The Associated Press Colorado, the U.S. government and a gold mining company have agreed to resolve a longstanding dispute over who’s responsible for continuing cleanup at a Superfund site that was established after a massive 2015 spill of hazardous mine waste that fouled rivers with a sickly yellow sheen in three states. […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Mining company agrees to pay Colorado $1.6 million in Gold King Mine spill settlement
A mining company has agreed to pay the state of Colorado $1.6 million to settle claims related to the 2015 blowout of the Gold King Mine near Silverton, which sent millions of gallons of orange-yellow water laden with heavy metals cascading down the Animas River and into New Mexico and Utah. The settlement with Sunnyside […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News
Colorado issues cease-and-desist order for Nederland-area mine that’s leaking heavy metals into water
State water quality officials have issued a cease and desist order and threatened substantial fines against owners of the Caribou gold mine above Nederland because of heavy metals leaking into drinking water sources, hammering Grand Island Resources over repeated violations. The dripping heavy metals are not a current threat to Middle Boulder Creek, Barker Reservoir […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
Gold King Mine owner sues federal government over 2015 spill
DURANGO — The owner of an inactive southwestern Colorado mine that was the source of a disastrous 2015 spill that fouled rivers in three Western states has filed a lawsuit seeking nearly $3.8 million in compensation for the federal government’s use of his land in its ongoing cleanup response. MORE: Many hoped the Gold King […]
Posted inBusiness, Economy, Environment, Health, News, Outdoors
EPA plan to truck toxic mine waste through Telluride isn’t sitting well with locals
The last remnant of Telluride’s messy mining legacy is causing headaches. Last fall, the U.S. Forest Service called the Environmental Protection Agency to consult on moving 34 acres of mining tailings located on public land on the town’s beloved Valley Floor. Soil tested near a popular hiking trail along the San Miguel River detected lead […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
New Mexico seeks restoration ideas after southwestern Colorado’s 2015 Gold King Mine spill
SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico officials are looking for ideas for restoration projects to repair damage caused by a 2015 spill that fouled rivers in three western states with a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. The state Office of the Natural Resources Trustee said Wednesday that the projects would be […]