Approximately one million gallons of orange-colored mine tailings wastewater has spilled into the Animas River in southwestern Colorado, forcing several river recreation businesses to close and irrigation companies to suspend water delivery to hundreds of local farmers.
A team of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulators probing contamination at the abandoned Gold King Mine in San Juan County on Thursday accidently released the wastewater into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River, EPA spokesman Rich Mylott said.
Most of the wastewater, which contains heavy metals and other toxins that can be harmful to humans and aquatic life, spilled into the creek within an hour, the EPA said in a statement on Friday. Though a lighter flow of contaminated water continues to flow into the creek, the agency has begun diverting it into a settling pond.
In an attempt to control the impact of the spill, Sheriff Sean Smith of nearby La Plata County on Thursday issued an order closing the Animas River to the public from the north county line (San Juan County) to the Colorado-New Mexico border in the south, according to a statement published on the La Plata County website.
