EPA accidentally spilled 3 million gallons of mine waste turning the Animus River orange, which leads into the Colorado. The state of Colorado and the Navajo Nation have declared State’s of Emergency. According to President Russell Begaye of the Navajo Nation, the nation has been struck extremely hard by the mining disaster, the rivers are sacred to their people and are used to water their organic crops. Water stores are depleting quickly on the reservation, and local farmers and ranchers are worried about the future of their farms.
The president for the Navajo nation demanded answers, and information on what the mining waste contained. Some reports have tested contaminated water and found it contained 3,500 times the safe amount of lead, and 300 times the safe levels of Arsenic. According to a presentation the president and Council members of the Navajo state that the EPA has told them that the water was safe, but demanded to watch those stating the the water is safe drink from the river and prove it. The EPA has set up a page on their website to explain the disaster and their clean up efforts. The site continues no numbers on contaminants in the waste flow, only that testing is underway. The Navajo nation has stated that they should be receiving clean water, instead of being told to wait while the water is tested.
