Gold mine's toxic plume extends to Utah

FARMINGTON, N.M. — The plume of heavy metals released last week into the Animas River from the Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colo., reached Utah on Monday.

As of Monday evening, officials said the plume of contamination was southeast of Montezuma Creek, Utah, and was headed for Lake Powell. Environmental Protection Agency officials say the pollutants in the plume include arsenic, lead, copper, aluminum and cadmium, but have not released any detailed information on the spill that started Wednesday morning and has since been contained.

The Gold King Mine's discharge raises the possibility of long-term damage from the toxic metals falling out of suspension as the plume slowly moves along the river.

"Sediment does settle," said Shaun McGrath, administrator of EPA's Region 8. "It settles down to the bottom of the riverbed."

EPA officials announced Monday afternoon that public access to the Animas and San Juan rivers would continue to be closed until at least Aug. 17.

One rural water user association in San Juan County, where New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez declared a state of emergency Monday, has spent thousands of dollars buying water from Farmington and Aztec because it had to shut down its wells after the toxic mine waste spilled into the Animas last week.

"We don't want to take a chance of contaminating them — and it sure has cost us a lot of money," said Rick Mitchell, Flora Vista Mutual Domestic Water Association general manager.

Mustard-colored water began rushing out of the Gold King Mine in southern Colorado on Wednesday after an EPA team disturbed a dam of loose rock lodged in the mine.

The deluge of polluted water poured into Cement Creek and continued into the Animas River. The plume of pollution, clearly visible from the air and estimated to be more than 80 miles long at one point, reached Farmington, N.M., on Saturday morning.

McGrath said future runoff from storms will kick that toxic sediment back into the water, which means there will need to be long-term monitoring.

He added that "the Animas River has historically been polluted by acid mine drainage."

Chapters within the Northern Agency have started the process of issuing emergency declarations after toxic mine waste flowed down the San Juan River onto the Navajo Nation.

The San Juan River travels west through the Navajo Nation, then converges with the Colorado River at Lake Powell in southeastern Utah. For the chapter communities near the San Juan River, it is the main source of water for crops and livestock.

So far, the chapters of Upper Fruitland, Nenahnezad, San Juan and Shiprock have issued either declarations or resolutions calling for a state of emergency within their boundaries.

The "slug" of pollution, which the EPA says contains metals and is about as acidic as black coffee, is headed toward Lake Powell.

Silverton is surrounded by abandoned mines, and the EPA was checking on one of the worst ones, the Gold King, when the breach occurred. Area residents are furious that the federal agency charged with fighting pollution accidentally caused it.

The Animas has largely returned to running clear below Silverton and into Durango, although some of the orange sediment remains in some puddles and along the shore.

Officials advise residents with wells in the flood plains of the Animas River and the San Juan River downstream of the confluence of the two rivers to have their water tested before using it for cooking, drinking or bathing.

County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter voiced frustration about the delay in getting information about the chemicals in the water. The data, he said, will "give us a big picture of what we are going to deal with and the long-term effects we will have to deal with."

Contributing: Steve Garrison, Joshua Kellogg and Noel Lyn Smith, The (Farmington, N.M.) Daily Times; and Trevor Hughes, USA TODAY