All five members of New Mexico’s congressional delegation say they are worried some promises made by Environmental Protection Agency to the Gold King Mine won’t apply .
The federal lawmakers said in a letter to Pruitt that “it is … our understanding” that rejected damage claims from the massive made by the state and the tribe won’t be reconsidered, unlike made by citizens and businesses across the areas .
“If true, this unequal treatment would be very disappointing and we would seek clarification on this matter, and reconsideration of this as well,” the letter said. “Finally, we strongly believe the EPA needs to support and provide funding for independent water-testing by the state of New Mexico.”
Signers of the letters include New Mexico’s U.S. Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, as well as U.S. Reps. Steve Pearce, Ben Ray Luján and Michaell Lujan Grisham.
Pruitt, in an interview Friday with The Denver Post, called Colorado’s rejected claims a “wrong” that the Trump administration intends to address. The EPA recently sent letters to 77 claimants, saying the agency would reconsider their previously denied claims.
The over the 3 million-gallon, EPA-triggered wastewater spill on Aug. 5, 2015. The U.S. Supreme Court, however, .
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The EPA said Monday that it cannot reconsider a claim once the claimant has sued them in court, as New Mexico and the Navajo Nation have done.
According to the EPA, of the 77 that went out to claimants asking them to resubmit their claims for reconsideration, 29 were for claims from New Mexico and 10 were for claims from the Navajo Nation.
Saturday was the two-year anniversary of the Gold King disaster. The spill turned the Animas River a mustard-yellow color as sludge moved down the waterway — through Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and American Indian land. The EPA has designated the mine a federal Superfund cleanup site, which Pruitt vowed on Friday to make a priority .