WINDOW ROCK, Ariz. | The latest in the Colorado mine spill (all times local):
12:30 p.m.
Colorado authorities say there are no reports yet of harm to wildlife in that state five days after the release of millions of gallons of heavy metal-laden wastewater from a mine into the Animas River.
The state’s Parks and Wildlife agency said Monday it had inserted cages with more than 100 fingerling trout into the river in southwest Colorado near Durango.
The fish are sensitive to changes in water quality. As of Monday, only one fish had died, but the agency said it didn’t know if that was because of the metals in the water.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has yet to say if the metals, which include lead and arsenic, pose a threat to human health, frustrating residents and state and local officials in Colorado and downstream in New Mexico and Utah.
About 3 million gallons of wastewater from Colorado’s Gold King Mine began spilling on Wednesday when an EPA-supervised cleanup crew accidentally breached a debris dam that had formed inside the mine.
The mine has been inactive since 1923.
12:05 p.m.
Tribal officials with the Navajo Nation have declared an emergency as a massive plume of contaminated wastewater from an abandoned Colorado mine flows downstream toward Lake Powell, which supplies much of the water to the Southwest.
State environment officials in New Mexico and Utah say the plume is passing through the Navajo Nation and headed toward Montezuma Creek near the town of Bluff, a tourist destination.
Some drinking water systems on the Navajo Nation, which spans parts of New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, have shut down their intake systems and stopped diverting water from the San Juan River.
Drinking water is being hauled to some communities.
Navajo President Russell Begaye says the tribe is frustrated with U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and he plans to take legal action. An EPA supervised crew has been blamed for causing the spill while attempting to clean up the area.
EPA is spinning this story….heavy metal Cancers won’t show up for years, not in a few days in a few fingerlings. Jack Dougherty, Aurora
You are correct! In a period of years, mental disorders and neurological problems may start showing up. I don’t know how the disorders will be directly linked, however, people should maintain documentation of exposure to help their position. Any cancer would probably take years as you stated.
The primary health concerns dealing with heavy metals are neurological and autoimmune disorders … cancer is down the list.