Committee on Indian Affairs United State

EPA's Gold King Mine Disaster Committee on Indian Affairs United State

Today we will examine the short and long-term impacts to tribal communities from the tragic spill of 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater from the Gold King Mine by Environmental Protection Agency personnel and their contractors. This toxic wastewater was first unleashed into the Cement Creek, a tributary of the Animas River, in Colorado and then flowed downstream to the San Juan River. The reach and repercussions of the August 5th, 2015 disaster are substantial. The 3 million gallons of high concentrations of metals, including cadmium and lead, plus other substances such as arsenic, were released into the waterways crossing tribal lands. The chemicals in this spill turned the creeks and rivers into rusty, contaminated sludge. Whether a private company or a Federal agency itself carelessly blew out a mining wall and unleashed 3 million gallons of toxic materials into these waterways, both should be held accountable to the communities they negatively impacted. In the immediate aftermath of the spill, the Southern Ute Indian Tribe and the Navajo Nation were forced to issue state of emergency declarations in response to the spill. Ranchers and farmers on the Navajo Nation suddenly could not use the river water.