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 […]
Gold King Mine
Posted inCrime and Courts, Environment, News
Navajo Nation, New Mexico reach settlements over Gold King Mine spill
By Susan Montoya Bryan, The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.— The Navajo Nation’s Department of Justice announced Wednesday it has settled with mining companies to resolve claims stemming from a 2015 spill that resulted in rivers in three western states being fouled with a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals. Under the settlement […]
Posted inColoradans, Energy, Environment, Health, News, Outdoors, Politics and Government
EPA announces Colorado-based office dedicated to cleaning up abandoned mines
The Environmental Protection Agency is creating a new office in Lakewood that will focus on cleaning up abandoned hardrock mining sites west of the Mississippi River, including the Bonita Peak Mining District where the Gold King Mine disaster originated in 2015. The Office of Mountains, Deserts and Plains will be located in the EPA’s regional […]
Posted inCOVID, News
EPA settles lawsuit with Utah over Gold King Mine spill
By Brady McCombs, The Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY — The U.S. government settled a lawsuit Wednesday brought by the state of Utah over a mine waste spill caused by federal workers that sent wastewater downstream to several states from the inactive Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado five years ago. The Environmental Protection Agency […]
Posted inEnvironment, News, Water
Many hoped the Gold King Mine spill would bring change. Five years later, they’re still waiting.
It didn’t take long after the sludge settled five years ago for the calls for change to begin. In fact, 3 million gallons of orange-gold water that poured out of the Gold King Mine on Aug. 5, 2015, was still flowing through the Colorado River watershed when discussions about the broader issue of thousands of […]
Posted inBusiness, Coloradans, Environment, Growth, Water
Aurora spent $34 million on water from a toxic mine. It’s not as crazy as it sounds.
FAIRPLAY — Joe Harrington unfurls the map of the mine he owns, a once notorious source of toxic cadmium and zinc tainting water in the South Platte River basin. He traces his finger along a 20-mile fault line, an underground wall of clay known as the London Fault that runs through the London Mine’s maze […]
Posted inCrime and Courts, Environment, News, Politics and Government
Court upholds Trump move to drop mine pollution rule forcing companies to show their clean-up ability
By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — A U.S. appeals court panel sided with the Trump administration Friday in a mining pollution dispute, ruling that state and federal programs already in place ensure that companies take financial responsibility for future cleanups. The ruling came after the administration was sued by environmental groups for dropping an […]
Posted inSunLit, SunLit Interviews
A Colorado author sought to add context to the Gold King Mine disaster. What he found was unexpected.
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. All of the selections were nominated for 2019 Colorado Book Awards. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit Jonathan P. Thompson has been an environmental journalist focusing on the American West […]
Posted inBook Excerpts, SunLit
The roots of the Gold King Mine disaster run deeper than the river it polluted
Each week, The Colorado Sun and Colorado Humanities & Center For The Book feature an excerpt from a Colorado book and an interview with the author. All of the selections were nominated for 2019 Colorado Book Awards. Explore the SunLit archives at coloradosun.com/sunlit Jonathan Thompson is the author of the book “River of Lost Souls,” […]
Posted inEnvironment, News
50 million gallons of polluted water pours daily from mine sites across the U.S., including Colorado
By Matthew Brown, The Associated Press RIMINI, Mont. — Every day many millions of gallons of water loaded with arsenic, lead and other toxic metals flow from some of the most contaminated mining sites in the U.S. and into surrounding streams and ponds without being treated, The Associated Press has found. That torrent is poisoning aquatic life and tainting […]