Water flows through a series of sediment retention ponds built to reduce heavy metal and chemical contaminants from the Gold King Mine wastewater accident, in the spillway about 1/4 mile downstream from the mine, outside Silverton, Aug. 14. Officials have said that federal contractors accidentally released more than 3 million gallons of wastewater laden with heavy metals on Aug. 5 at the Gold King Mine near Silverton. (Brennan Linsley, The Associated Press)
It seems the line is growing of those planning to sue the Environmental Protection Agency over the wastewater release from the Gold King Mine into the Animas River. Never mind that the old mines around Silverton regularly discharge similarly tainted water into the streams at the rate of millions of gallons a year. Even before the recent spill, the Gold King Mine alone was discharging around 50 to 250 gallons of waste per minute.
Yes, go ahead and investigate the spill for negligence and to see what could have been done differently by the EPA to mitigate a very complex problem; but also be realistic and educated concerning the nature and scope of the problem. If the EPA has a lesson to learn, then also people should learn to identify when a habit closely resembles the digging of gold out of the Colorado mountains in the 1800s.
Kevin Grunewald, Cokedale
This letter was published in the Aug. 28 edition.
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