The yellow color of that dominated the river last week as turned a greenish color August 11, 2015 along Animas River. (Brent Lewis, The Denver Post)
Re: “EPA chief Gina McCarthy says water quality in Animas back to “pre-event conditions”,” Aug. 12 news story.
Accidents happen, and if things can go wrong, they will. In fact, hazardous spills and prolonged contamination is happening every day in America. According to the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, there’s an average of two oil and gas spills every day in Colorado alone. Moreover, spills and contamination to public land, air, and water seem to be the standard byproducts of these industries.
The most disturbing thing to me isn’t just that the drinking water for thousands of people may be contaminated or that the potential tourist industry of that area may be affected for years to come, but also that no one — especially the industries and companies responsible for most of these spills — is ever held accountable.
Right now, the Bureau of Land Management is considering leasing thousands of acres of land to oil and gas companies for extracting fossil fuels that could pollute drinking water. With the power of industry, I’m sure they’ll have their way.
James Gallardo, Wheat Ridge
This letter was published in the Aug. 14 edition.
Submit a letter to the editor via this form or check out our guidelines for how to submit by e-mail or mail.
