History texts and recent news stories tell all too often of collapses in working mines, and the tragedies they bring for miners’ families and communities. But abandoned mines can also be dangerous, and their potential for harm can be both silent and catastrophic. The Gold King Mine disaster demonstrates the dangers that can lurk quietly for decades, and then erupt.

Originally published October 15, 2015. Update below.

On August 5, 2015 investigators from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) were assessing conditions in the Gold King mine, just north of Silverton, Colorado. The mine, which had not been worked since 1923, had been discharging contaminated water into the nearby Cement Creek, which is a tributary of the Animas River. As investigators excavated to find the source of the continuing leaks from a mine pool, a loose part of the mine collapsed, allowing three millions gallons of pressurized water to spew into Cement Creek and to flow down into the Animas River and the San Juan River.

The Animas River is a popular tourist and recreational site; the Durango-Silverton narrow gauge railway meanders along its scenic course, while people enjoy fishing, rafting and other recreational activities on the river. The river also provides irrigation for crops and water for livestock for farming areas within a vast watershed; much of this agricultural area belongs to the Navajo Nation in northern New Mexico. In southwest Colorado the Southern Ute and the Ute Mountain Ute rely on waters from both the Animas and the San Juan rivers.

Getting the Word Out

According to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, testifying in a September 16, 2015 Senate hearing, the EPA immediately took responsibility for the spill, and “within hours” notified potentially affected communities in the watershed. Colorado, New Mexico and Utah declared states of emergency; affected counties alerted water users (especially public utilities, irrigators and ranchers) and closed their portions of the river to recreational use. James M. “Mike” Olguin, a Southern Ute Indian Tribal Council Member, reported that the Southern Ute tribe was notified by Colorado state authorities, and put several emergency action plans into place, coordinating with their sister tribe, the Ute Mountain Utes and with county and state officials. But government-to-government notice between the EPA and tribes failed in some ways, notably with respect to alerting the Navajo Nation in a timely way, according to Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye. The Navajo Nation declared a state of emergency, and attempted to work with the EPA to mitigate damages and serve Navajo communities.

EPA’s Response

To contain the spill, the EPA took immediate steps to create settling ponds to capture the discharge, to divert the flow, and to assess potential damage. By August 14th, the EPA assessed that the river had returned to “pre-event” contamination levels. County and state jurisdictions lifted their bans on recreational uses of the river, but continued to caution farmers and ranchers. Though the level of pollutants has gone down, residents and businesses within the watershed of the Animas River, from Silverton to Farmington, have already suffered significant damage from the loss of water for livestock and for crops in the height of the growing season. In his testimony before the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, President Begaye outlines these and other damages to citizens of the Navajo Nation.

Compensation for Those Affected

On September 22, 2015 Senators Udall and Heinrich (NM), and Senator Bennet (CO) introduced S. 2063, the Gold King Mine Spill Recovery Act of 2015. Representative Ben Ray Lujan (NM) introduced a companion bill, H.R. 3602, on September 24. The bills define U.S. responsibility for the damage created by the spill, and specify the kinds of damage that will qualify for compensation. The bills also create an Office of Gold King Mine Spill Claims within the EPA and direct that office to pay the claims through specified federal funds. The bills also direct the EPA to work with states and Indian tribes in the affected area to “develop, fund, and implement a long term monitoring program for water quality of the Animas and San Juan Rivers.”

Prevention of Future Disasters

The bills require the EPA, within six months, to review known abandoned and inactive mines for pollutants and hazardous substances, and to establish a priority plan to remediate the hazards. There are thousands of abandoned mines in Colorado and New Mexico, and according to the EPA’s Abandoned Mine Lands Program, there are more than 500,000 abandoned mines nationwide. The bills do not specify a geographic boundary for this six-month assignment, nor do they authorize additional funds for personnel to carry out this huge task. The EPA budget has been cut by more than 20 percent in the last 5 years, severely hampering the agency’s ability to monitor and prevent catastrophes such as the Gold King mine collapse.

History Speaks

Southern Ute Council Member Olguin included an astute reminder in his testimony:

It is important to keep this incident in perspective and understand it points to a much larger problem, one that has been 100 years in the making. In the late 19th century, the discovery of valuable minerals in the San Juan Mountains led to widespread trespass on lands set apart for the Utes under an 1868 treaty. As a result, the United States negotiated another agreement with the Utes in 1873 that carved 3.7 million acres out of the middle of the Ute Reservation. That agreement, along with the 1872 mining law, paved the way for hard rock mining in the San Juan Mountains, one legacy of which is mining-related pollution of the Animas River.

The taking of land, and the historic failure to regulate hazardous activities on land and near rivers and resources that serve many communities, have consequences. The federal government bears responsibility, not only for the accidental pollution of the Animas river system by the actions of a government agency, but also for other long-buried outcomes of a history laced with illegal and unconscionable government actions toward native peoples on this continent.

Updates

May 2016

The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs has scheduled a field hearing in Phoenix on April 22 on the Gold King Mine toxic spill, for which it holds the Environmental Protection Agency responsible. This abandoned mine had been leaking contaminated water into an adjacent river, so EPA investigators checked it out last August. During the investigation, the mine collapsed, allowing 3 million gallons of contaminated water to flow into the Cement Creek and then into the larger Animas River, just above Silverton, Colorado, and affecting large swaths of Navajo and Ute land.

The Committee requested that EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy, or Assistant Administrator Mathy Stanislaus attend the Phoenix hearing to give an update on EPA’s investigations. But Stanislaus was appearing at another congressional hearing the day before and declined. In a letter to the Committee on April 12, Administrator McCarthy pointed out that the EPA had provided congressional testimony on the spill on 41 separate occasions, including McCarthy’s own testimony on September 16. She offered instead to send Stanislaus, in spite of the logistical difficulties.

The following day, the Committee issued a subpoena to require Ms. McCarthy’s presence.