{"id":17768,"date":"2020-08-14T08:42:41","date_gmt":"2020-08-14T15:42:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/?p=17768"},"modified":"2020-08-18T09:09:07","modified_gmt":"2020-08-18T16:09:07","slug":"gold-king-mine-spill-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"All We&#8217;ve Surveyed: Five Years After the Gold King Mine Spill"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>By Laura Paskus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Our Land: Gold King Mine Spill Revisited\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bLBr8-VM4oM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Five years ago, crews reopening an abandoned mine in the mountains of southern Colorado breached a containment wall, spewing three million gallons of mining waste into a tributary of the Animas River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the mine\u2019s alpine location\u2014which averages 15 feet of snow each year\u2014fieldwork is limited and conditions can change drastically between seasons. Tasked with cleaning up the mine\u2019s mess, contractors hired by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were trying to open up the mine adit, which was flooded with a burnt orange toxic soup that had simmered for decades and decades.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Gold King Mine shut down in 1923, but operated continuously from 1886 until 1917\u2014producing more than 650,000 tons of ore each year in the quest for grams of gold, silver, lead and copper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On the morning of August 5, 2015, the excavator operator hit what he thought was a \u201cspring.\u201d After just a few minutes, the water reportedly turned from clear to red to orange, spurting into the air, inundating the contractor\u2019s truck and blowing over the access road. That acid mine drainage\u2014full of cadmium, lead, zinc, mercury, iron, and manganese\u2014roared down the North Fork of Cement Creek, and then into the Animas River.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Animas_River_spill_2015-08-06.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17785\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Animas_River_spill_2015-08-06.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Animas_River_spill_2015-08-06-225x300.jpeg 225w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Animas_River_spill_2015-08-06-18x24.jpeg 18w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Animas_River_spill_2015-08-06-27x36.jpeg 27w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Animas_River_spill_2015-08-06-36x48.jpeg 36w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><figcaption>The Animas River on August 6, 2015. Photo courtesy of the San Juan Citizens Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Living just a few miles south of New Mexico\u2019s border with Colorado, Susan Palko-Schraa remembers hearing about the spill that August day. Then, she and her husband waited for the sludge to come down the Animas River past their home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt was late afternoon, and we were standing right by the river,\u201d Palko-Schraa says today. \u201cOriginally there was just maybe a foot wide of orange in the middle of the current, and you could trace it where the current went.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The orange stripe widened. But as dusk fell, she thought maybe it wouldn\u2019t be that bad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then the entire river turned a neon orange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the aftermath of the Gold King Mine spill there were lawsuits, including by the state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation against the EPA, whose contractors caused the spill. There was also funding for studies. Early on, to see how fish and wildlife were affected by the spill and to understand changes in the water\u2019s chemistry. There were also longer-term studies to see how the spill might have affected groundwater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Palko-Schraa and her husband became involved in a citizens advisory committee convened by the New Mexico Environment Department. Over the course of two years, there were monthly meetings; neighbors asked questions and scientists presented their findings.They also joined a state study to see if the spill affected the local aquifer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For two years, hydrologist Talon Newton with the New Mexico Bureau of Geology sampled about two dozen private wells in the Animas Valley, including the Palko-Schraa\u2019s. With funding from the EPA, the state wanted to better understand the groundwater systems in the area, and how they interact with the river and irrigation canals. Newton and his crew also wanted to know if the spill affected the shallow groundwater resources. \u201cThe good news is we didn&#8217;t see any obvious impacts from the Gold King Mine spill,\u201d says Newton.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>They weren\u2019t the only ones looking for answers.<\/strong> The Animas flows into the San Juan River, which winds across the western Navajo Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Karletta Chief, a hydrologist with the University of Arizona\u2019s Environmental Science Department, tested more than 60 households in three Navajo communities\u2014Aneth, Utah and Shiprock and Upper Fruitland in New Mexico\u2014looking for lead and arsenic, which can have long term health impacts. With her team of researchers from the University of Arizona, Northern Arizona University and the Navajo community, she also convened focus groups, and for years afterward, talked to Din\u00e9 farmers who rely upon the waters of the San Juan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe found that there are over 40 different ways that the Navajo people use the San Juan River,\u201d she says, \u201cnot just for recreation, not just for farming, but they also use it for culture, for spiritual practices, for arts and crafts and many more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17784\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-24x14.jpg 24w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-36x20.jpg 36w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11-48x27.jpg 48w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/OURLAND_ANIMAS_11.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe San Juan River is considered a male deity, and it provides water for farming, water to grow just natural plants used for cultural practices and even medicine,\u201d she says, adding that it\u2019s important to the ecosystem where people live and hunt, too. \u201cThe water itself is very important to the Navajo people and so seeing this water contaminated had a huge cultural impact to the people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chief explains they didn\u2019t find immediate short-term environmental and health harm to Din\u00e9 farmers and their families. But the cultural, mental, and financial impacts of the spill still linger.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This part of the Navajo Nation is considered the \u201cbreadbasket,\u201d says Chief, who is Din\u00e9. Prior to the spill, people were growing crops for sale, as well as using them for cultural activities and ceremonies. \u201cSuddenly, that stopped,\u201d she says. \u201cAnd people were worried about their reputation and how other Navajos perceived them and their crops.\u201d Today, some still lack the confidence to go back to farming, after having seen that neon orange water flow past their homes and farms.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For hundreds of years, people have put their hands into the soil, planted heirloom seeds, and relied daily upon the waters of the San Juan. They want to know their children, their grandchildren, and future generations can do the same. Safely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important for scientists who study environmental and health impacts to understand how people themselves relate to the lands and waters around them\u2014and how they perceive the risks they and their families and communities face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen we as scientists don\u2019t understand the community and their culture and their language and their way of life, there is no way that we can accurately assess the risk that one may have to the contamination,\u201d she says. \u201cSo not only are you doing your science wrong, but you\u2019re not doing a good [job] of communicating that science.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Today, the spill still highlights bigger problems. <\/strong>Upstream, there are more than 20,000 abandoned mines. These are mines that were excavated and then left\u2014after earning profits off the minerals, the private owners and companies moved on, leaving the federal government to clean up the mines. Even when there aren\u2019t blowouts, these mines and their tailings piles seep toxic chemicals and hard minerals into creeks and rivers all across the region.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a technical evaluation of what happened,<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usbr.gov\/docs\/goldkingminereport.pdf\"> the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation noted<\/a> the \u201cconditions and actions that led to the Gold King Mine incident are not isolated or unique, and in fact are surprisingly prevalent.\u201d Standards for reopening and remediating abandoned mines that are flooded are inconsistent across agencies, the authors wrote, adding there is \u201clittle in actual written requirements that government agencies are required to follow when reopening an abandoned mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Not only that, but the blowout wasn\u2019t just due to an accident on August 5, 2015. According to the report, the release was due to a \u201cseries of events spanning several decades.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Today, Susan Palko-Schraa is confident the river that runs alongside her home is safe. But a recent headline in <em>The Durango Herald<\/em> made her wonder about the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/11145059_10206440356841910_3934328193632059546_n-1.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17786\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/11145059_10206440356841910_3934328193632059546_n-1.jpeg 960w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/11145059_10206440356841910_3934328193632059546_n-1-300x225.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/11145059_10206440356841910_3934328193632059546_n-1-24x18.jpeg 24w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/11145059_10206440356841910_3934328193632059546_n-1-36x27.jpeg 36w, https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/11145059_10206440356841910_3934328193632059546_n-1-48x36.jpeg 48w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><figcaption>Photo courtesy of the San Juan Citizens Alliance<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the story from Jonathan Romeo,<a href=\"https:\/\/durangoherald.com\/articles\/333631-epa-proposes-permanent-mine-waste-dump-site-north-of-silverton\"> the EPA is proposing to store toxic waste<\/a> from abandoned mines, including Gold King, near Silverton, Colorado. That dump would take in about about six thousand cubic yards of toxic sludge each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI hope and pray that there is wisdom that it is away from the watershed,\u201d she says. \u201cClearly we do have to deal with the mining waste but we can deal with it with caution and wisdom and we can protect what&#8217;s most valuable\u2014and in the desert Southwest we all know water is of essential value.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>This story was supported by a grant from <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/waterdesk.org\/\"><strong>The Water Desk<\/strong><\/a><strong>, an independent journalism initiative based at the University of Colorado Boulder\u2019s <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.colorado.edu\/cej\/\"><strong>Center for Environmental Journalism<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>To watch footage of the\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=kgEeTcgIYNQ&amp;t=31s\" target=\"_blank\">Animas River from Silverton, Colorado to Shiprock, New Mexico<\/a>\u00a0shot by LightHawk volunteer pilot Marijke Unger, visit our YouTube page.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Laura Paskus Five years ago, crews reopening an abandoned mine in the mountains of southern Colorado breached a containment wall, spewing three million gallons of mining waste into a tributary of the Animas River. Given the mine\u2019s alpine location\u2014which averages 15 feet of snow each year\u2014fieldwork is limited and conditions can change drastically between&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":17769,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1257],"tags":[18,5556,791,5563,2345,5567,788,787,5570,2343,113,738,1012,1046,5564,2344,5562,751,2346,4960,5557,5569,5568,5558,5560,5561,2751,5559,5565,5566],"class_list":["post-17768","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-our-land","tag-albuquerque","tag-animas","tag-animas-river","tag-center-for-environmental-journalism","tag-current-affairs","tag-environmental-science","tag-gold-king-mine","tag-gold-king-mine-spill","tag-karletta-chief","tag-knme-tv","tag-laura-paskus","tag-new-mexico","tag-new-mexico-pbs","tag-news","tag-nm-bureau-of-geology-and-mineral-resources","tag-nmpbs","tag-orange-plume","tag-pbs","tag-public-television","tag-san-juan","tag-san-juan-river","tag-susan-palko-schraa","tag-talon-newton","tag-the-water-desk","tag-toxic-orange","tag-toxic-orange-plume","tag-toxic-plume","tag-toxic-water","tag-university-of-arizona","tag-university-of-colorado-boulder"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>All We&#039;ve Surveyed: Five Years After the Gold King Mine Spill - New Mexico In Focus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"All We&#039;ve Surveyed: Five Years After the Gold King Mine Spill - New Mexico In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Laura Paskus Five years ago, crews reopening an abandoned mine in the mountains of southern Colorado breached a containment wall, spewing three million gallons of mining waste into a tributary of the Animas River. Given the mine\u2019s alpine location\u2014which averages 15 feet of snow each year\u2014fieldwork is limited and conditions can change drastically between&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"New Mexico In Focus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-08-14T15:42:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-08-18T16:09:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.newmexicopbs.org\/productions\/newmexicoinfocus\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/GoldKing2-SanJuanCitizensAlliance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Laura Paskus\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Laura Paskus\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Laura Paskus\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/824a1c3ef821446e7824e1a2c5b08aa9\"},\"headline\":\"All We&#8217;ve Surveyed: Five Years After the Gold King Mine Spill\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-08-14T15:42:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-08-18T16:09:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1393,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/08\\\/GoldKing2-SanJuanCitizensAlliance.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Albuquerque\",\"Animas\",\"Animas River\",\"Center for Environmental Journalism\",\"current affairs\",\"environmental science\",\"Gold King Mine\",\"Gold King Mine Spill\",\"Karletta Chief\",\"KNME-TV\",\"Laura Paskus\",\"New Mexico\",\"New Mexico PBS\",\"news\",\"NM Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources\",\"NMPBS\",\"orange plume\",\"PBS\",\"Public Television\",\"San Juan\",\"San Juan River\",\"Susan Palko-Schraa\",\"Talon Newton\",\"The Water Desk\",\"toxic orange\",\"toxic orange plume\",\"toxic plume\",\"toxic water\",\"University of Arizona\",\"University of Colorado Boulder\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Our Land\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.newmexicopbs.org\\\/productions\\\/newmexicoinfocus\\\/gold-king-mine-spill-revisited\\\/\",\"name\":\"All We've Surveyed: Five Years After the Gold King Mine Spill - 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