The EPA Is Working With Several Federal Agencies to Clean Up Its Self-Created Disaster

Government Executive: The Environmental Protection Agency has deployed dozens of employees to respond to its release of a mine’s wastewater into two rivers in at least three southwestern states, and is coordinating with several federal entities to clean up the massive spill that has caused the governor of Colorado to declare a state of emergency.

The spill at the defunct Gold King Mine began last week when an EPA inspection crew was investigating existing leakages. While excavating loose material in the mine, pressurized water burst out of a tunnel and into a creek that fed into the Animas River. About 3 million gallons of the wastewater has flowed from the mine since the incident.

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