Honestly? It Isn't Going to Be "SAFE" For VERY Long Time.... PLEASE: Do Not Ever Forget, Gina McCarthy (Obama Appointee) Was FORMER Head Lobbyist & CEO of MONSANTO... She is A POISONER by Design and Cares Nothing for the People or Environment of the United States
On Saturday evening, San Juan County Executive Officer Kim Carpenter signed a declaration lifting the ban on the use of the Animas River.
"I am very pleased to sign this declaration, having full support from the Governor’s Long-Term Impact Review Team, the U.S. Environmental Agency, and local officials," Carpenter said.
The declaration went into effect at 8 p.m.
New Mexico Environment Secretary Ryan Flynn said in a statement that the waters of the Animas and San Juan rivers were meeting all applicable water quality standards.
Still, officials caution residents about drinking untreated water from the river. They also suggest thoroughly washing hands and clothes after contact and avoiding areas that are visibly discolored.
River water in southwestern Colorado and northwestern New Mexico continues to return to normal after last week’s devastating spill, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
Gov. Susana Martinez said Friday it’s safe to use the domestic well water in San Juan County again. This is great news for people who haven't been able to shower or do laundry at their home.
The state had the river closed in New Mexico as of Friday, meaning farmers and cattle ranchers couldn't use the river for irrigating crops or livestock.
The La Plata County sheriff opened the Animas River for recreational use in Colorado on Friday.
EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy met with Navajo Nation, city of Farmington and New Mexico officials Thursday. One resident at a press event held in Farming this week feels McCarthy should be fired, as the spill occurred under her watch.
McCarthy is visiting New Mexico after an EPA crew accidentally unplugged 3 million gallons of waste from the abandoned Gold King Mine in Colorado last week. The sludge leaked into the Animas River, carrying high amounts of toxic metals into San Juan County.
EPA crews pumped water into the river to dilute the high levels of mercury, arsenic and lead. At the peak, tests showed waste from the mine contained 3,500 times the safety levels of lead.
It's unclear if any EPA workers have been disciplined yet.
Colorado’s governor drank water from the river Wednesday after dropping an iodine tablet in it.
Federal officials are moving hundreds of miles down the river, testing segments, including areas in New Mexico, Utah and along Lake Powell in Arizona, where farmers and small businesses are anxiously awaiting updates.
In the end, cities in the area will ultimately decide whether or not to lift water restrictions. The mayor of Farmington hopes that happens by early next week, as those who rely on well water have been using bottled water since the spill. Anyone using city water should be OK, however.
Water stations are set up throughout the county, where people can get free drinking water. They are located at these locations:
--Farmington Fire Station No. 6, 3101 W. Main St.
--Sycamore Park Community Center, 1051 Sycamore St.
--Sycamore Park Community Center, 1051 Sycamore St.
The hours for the stations will be from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. until further notice.
Residents should bring their own water containers to fill. Large tanks are not permitted.
Cleaning may take years
Now that the river is clearing up, there's talk of a superfund, or trust fund, to help clean up the area.
Federal officials say it could take many years and millions of dollars to manage the toxic wastewater. They say plugging it could lead to an eventual explosion of poisonous water elsewhere.
So they believe the safest solution would be to install a treatment plant that would indefinitely clean the water from Gold King Mine and three other nearby mines. Federal authorities first suggested a treatment plant for the mine more than a decade ago, the Associated Press reports.
But local officials were reluctant to embrace a federally sponsored cleanup because of the negative connotation.
"We are striving to be a vacation destination. We're 100 percent dependent on the tourist trade with the train and the four-wheeling in the back country. In the wintertime we got all the skiing, the snowmobiling, and we just don't want Silverton or even San Juan County being associated with its superfund," said Silverton Town Council member David Zanoni.
There are about 500,000 abandoned mines nationwide, and only a fraction have been dealt with.
Health effects
Those who rely on the water, however, are worrying about the soil.
EPA results taken between Aug. 5 and 9 show water samples, in some areas, have returned to pre-event conditions. But are there long-term health effects of the toxic metals moving through the Animas and San Juan rivers?
Navajo nation president Russell Begaye thinks so.
“Where’s the residue? Where have all these contaminants settled? And you know that all the contaminants are not rushing down the river,” Begaye said. “It’s just not possible.”
Begaye believes the mercury, arsenic and lead poisons linger.
He thinks the soil along the banks needs to be tested, as children play along the river, people fish and cattle gather to drink from it.
“There are a number of metals in this water, that over the long term could be toxic to the body,” said KOAT’s Dr. Barry Ramo. “Iron is potentially toxic, arsenic, lead.”
Lead was banned from paint and toys in 1977 after experts found children were getting sick by gradually ingesting paint, which was causing sickness and developmental problems.
Exposure to high levels of these metals can cause an array of health problems from cancer to kidney disease to developmental problems in children. But the best way for those living in the area to stay safe, for now, is to drink bottled water.
McCarthy meets with Begaye
A closed door meeting between Begaye and McCarthy took place Thursday, and Begaye called the meeting disappointing.
“The answers are still not forthcoming,” Begaye said.
For days, he’s criticized the EPA for not being clear about the size of the spill and the potential consequences. Begaye is telling Navajos not to sign an EPA form that would reimburse them for any costs they’ve endured so far.
He believes the fine print exempts those who sign from filing future claims against the EPA.
The nation plans to sue the agency.
“By having our people sign these, they’re minimizing the amount of dollars they will be paying when we sue them,” Begaye said.
McCarthy insists the waiver issue had been cleared up.
“We will continue to work with the Navajo,” she said. “The Navajo have been our partners for a long time.”
Begaye disagrees and has asked for an interim waiver that doesn’t include any exemptions. He said he was told the cleanup of the spill could take decades. For now, he’s asking the EPA to provide a filtration system so farmers can water their crops.
New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas said it's too early to say if New Mexico will file a lawsuit, though the option isn't being ruled out.
Submitting claims for reimbursement
The EPA is taking full responsibility for the spill, meaning they will be planning on reimbursing people for the damage the spill caused.
River rafting and kayaking businesses have lost customers, farmers are in danger of losing crops, and other people have opened their wallets to buy emergency supplies. EPA Coordinator Mark Hayes says residents affected by the spill need to document everything and need to submit a claim.
The state and affected counties are running up big bills, too. New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez says she expects the state to be reimbursed for every penny it spends on the spill. San Juan County officials say they’ve spent nearly $15,000 so far on the spill.
New Mexico Environment Department Secretary Ryan Flynn says the state has already allocated $1.25 million for the spill and is burning through it fast. He says the final bill will be tremendous.
“We’re not talking thousands or hundreds of thousands, we’re talking millions when all is said and done,” Flynn said.
Retaining ponds
At the site of the spill, contaminated water continues to spill out. But below are four ponds the EPA set up to help slow down the mess.
"That's a pretty typical treatment approach to a contaminated mine water and really any contaminated water," said Clifford Villa, with University of New Mexico's School of Law.
He said the ponds are huge pawns in the game of trying to get the upper hand on the spill.
"The idea is that you have a series of ponds that capture the water instead of it going directly into the river, and those ponds give the water time to settle down, slow down so that metals can begin to fall out," Villa said.
The water passes through the ponds before making its way into the river. In addition to removing metals, those ponds also help treat the acid in the water.
The Gold King Mine is just one of thousands filled with the same contaminated water.
Experts estimate that there are 55,000 abandoned mines across the west, and federal and state authorities have struggled for decades to clean them up. What happened in this instance is part of the reason for the struggle. Accidents can cause lots of damage and be very expensive.
The EPA has halted similar mine cleanups.
More than 1,000 wells in San Juan County were in danger of being impacted by the spill. The county has declared a state of emergency.
Irrigation Problems
The orange toxic mine waste has moved on from the Animas, but farmers and cattle growers in San Juan County have been hit hard. Neither can use the river for cops or livestock.
The waste has been found in irrigation ditches, and those may have to be cleaned before use. Flushing the ditches will take a few days.
Jackie Crane has more than 100 acres near the Animas River in Aztec. Her 60 head of cattle have not been able to drink from the river or graze near it since the spill.
She’s already spent thousands trying to keep them away from the water, a cost she doesn’t want to pay anymore. She said she’s had to put up about a half mile of fence.
“We’ve lost 60 days of grazing,” She said. “So now we’re going to have to feed, we’re talking thousands of dollars, to feed the cattle.”
The EPA said Thursday it’ll try to help farmers and cattle raisers by spending $500,000 on water deliveries.
For D'Rese Sutherland, the deliveries just aren't enough for her family's 90-acre farm in Aztec.
"We're hoping for a miracle," she said.
Latest from EPA
McCarthy said the EPA has launched internal and independent investigations into the spill. There’s no definite timeline for when state, cities, counties and citizens will be reimbursed for damage caused by the spill, however.
"Rest assured we will learn lessons from this," McCarthy said.
Martinez’s reaction
Martinez wants information on the long-term education, environmental and health effects of the spill. To gather that info she is creating a special review team using members of the Agriculture, Environment, Health and Game and Fish departments.
Martinez declared a state of emergency due to the contamination. The declaration will make the state and its residents eligible for federal funds to help deal with the fallout.
Similar to Begaye, Martinez was critical of the EPA. She said it took too long to notify citizens. She said it’s going to be costly to clean up and costly for those who rely on that river to make a living.
Sen. Martin Heinrich works on legislation
Sen. Martin Heinrich is working on legislation he believes could help stop similar spills from happening again. He wants to create a system where mining companies would put money in a special fund.
The money would help pay for the cleanup of abandoned mines like Gold King.
“We need to make sure they are cleaned up before we have another disaster and farmers aren’t able to irrigate and people aren’t able to drink their well water,” he said. “Our hope is that we can begin to show the same pictures that every New Mexican is seeing of you know the river looking like Tang and say we can't let this happen again.”
He wants to have a draft done soon so he can introduce it to Congress next month.
Anchor Royale Da and Reporter Mike Springer contributed to this report.
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