(R) House Member: Mine That Fouled Rivers Breached on Purpose
Source: Associated Press
House Member: Mine That Fouled Rivers Breached on Purpose
By MATTHEW BROWN, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Mar 1, 2016, 7:52 PM ET
The Republican chairman of a congressional panel investigating a 3-million-gallon spill of toxic wastewater from an inactive Colorado gold mine said Tuesday the mine was purposely breached by a government cleanup team.
The assertion by House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop of Utah contradicts claims by the Obama administration that the cleanup team was doing only preparatory work at the Gold King mine.
Once it was breached, wastewater loaded with lead, arsenic and other contaminants fouled downstream rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
Bishop cited an email in which an Interior Department official said the spill last August occurred when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency team used an excavator to remove a dirt and rock "plug" blocking the mine's entrance.
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Agency spokeswoman Nancy Grantham repeated that claim Tuesday in response to questions about the Lewis email. The excavation work, she said, was intended "to assess the site conditions and to help prepare for a decision on future work."
A review of the accident by the Interior Department reached a similar conclusion.
Read more: http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/house-member-mine-fouled-rivers-breached-purpose-37319967
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