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EPA Mine Spill Spreads Along Southwestern Waterway

NPR
Published August 10, 2015 at 1:33 PM EDT
Colorado's Animas River, pictured here, is near unrecognizable now as its waters have turned yellow as a result of an accidental mine spill over the weekend, also impacting New Mexico's San Juan River. (scott1346/Flickr)
Colorado's Animas River, pictured here, is near unrecognizable now as its waters have turned yellow as a result of an accidental mine spill over the weekend, also impacting New Mexico's San Juan River. (scott1346/Flickr)

Utilities and residents along Colorado’s Animas River and New Mexico’s San Juan River are scrambling to find alternative water sources following an accidental mine spill over the weekend.

A cleanup crew supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency last week inadvertently leaked 3 million gallons of orange-colored toxic wastewater into the Animas, which runs into the San Juan. The crew was trying to treat water inside an abandoned gold mine when the accident occurred.

KJZZ senior field correspondent Laurel Morales joins Here & Now’s Jeremy Hobson to discuss the situation.

Guest

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