The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has released its final plan to monitor contamination levels from last summer’s Gold King Mine spill in Colorado. The plan is designed to give the agency broad scientific data about conditions in the Animas and San Juan rivers, which bore the brunt of the spill. Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports.
The EPA will initially spend $2 million to study the water and sediment quality of the rivers. It’ll also examine tissue from fish and other aquatic life to check for elevated levels of toxins that could have resulted from the spill. The agency will set up monitoring stations at 30 locations, including the upper section of the San Juan Arm of Lake Powell.
Federal officials say the study will explain seasonal fluctuations of pollution in the rivers caused by precipitation and snow melt. Biologists are currently taking spring samples, and will again test the water in June during summer monsoon rains.
EPA workers triggered the spill last August that sent 3 million gallons of mine waste into the Animas and San Juan rivers. Tests taken last fall showed contamination in the rivers was consistent with pre-spill levels.
