Obama's EPA Ruins Hundreds of Miles of Fresh Water in Middle of Drought
Source: universalfreepress.com
In what can only be described as a gross abuse of power and a criminal act, the EPA, the organization charged with safeguarding the water supply for 330 million Americans and a bunch of illegals, had put several hundred miles of freshwater off limits to the residents of several Western states. Last week while working at the site of an abandoned mine, EPA workers broke through a lower level tunnel of the Gold King mine near Durango, spilling at least 3 million gallons of contaminated mine sludge into Cement Creek.
The spill now estimated to be at least three times larger than first reported, has now laid down a poisonous path over 80 miles long containing high levels of arsenic, lead, copper, aluminum and cadmium. The mustard yellow sludge has already flowed into at least three other waterways placing them off limits to both humans and animals on its way to the Colorado River and eventually into Lakes Powell and Mead and the Grand Canyon.
“They are not going to get away with this,” said Russell Begaye, president of the Navajo Nation, which intends to sue the EPA.
The toxic slick, plainly visible from the air, prompted EPA Region 8 administrator Shaun McGrath to acknowledge the possibility of long-term damage from toxic metals, who made the brilliant observation that, “Sediment does settle,” McGrath said. “It settles down to the bottom of the river bed.” McGrath also acknowledged that future runoff from storms will kick that toxic sediment back into the water, which means there will need to be long-term monitoring.
On Saturday as the toxic waste spill passed through Colorado’s San Juan County, persons that live along the Animas and San Juan rivers were told to have their water tested before using it for cooking, drinking or bathing. The spill is expected to have a huge impact on farmers and ranchers that depend on water from the river systems for irrigation and drinking water for their cattle. In an area that is already fighting the effects of drought, and for those downstream that get their drinking water from the Colorado River like Las Vegas, this could be “the straw that breaks the camel’s back” when it comes to the already fragile economy’s in the affected areas. Plus the effect on recreational watersports and fishing will be felt for years to come.
Susana Martinez, Governor of New Mexico, inspected the damage in Farmington over the weekend and came away very unhappy over the situation. She said of the spill, “The magnitude of it, you can’t even describe it,” she said. “It’s like when I flew over the fires, your mind sees something it’s not ready or adjusted to see.”
President Begaye told tribal members at a community meeting in Shiprock, N.M., that he intends to take legal action against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for the massive release of mine waste into the Animas River near Silverton, Colorado.
“The EPA was right in the middle of the disaster and we intend to make sure the Navajo Nation recovers every dollar it spends cleaning up this mess and every dollar it loses as a result of injuries to our precious Navajo natural resources,” Begaye said. “I have instructed Navajo Nation Department of Justice to take immediate action against the EPA to the fullest extent of the law to protect Navajo families and resources.”
Begaye said the plume of sludge has made its way into the San Juan River and is wending through the Navajo Nation, the largest Indian reservation in the country. It is expected to reach the heavily used Lake Powell by Wednesday.
Just remember this story when you hear about the Government or the EPA coming to help American citizens with anything, there is nothing that big government can do for you that you and your neighbors can’t do better and cheaper yourselves.
Source: universalfreepress.com
