Government Spilled That!
Via CBS4 Denver, guess who released three million gallons of toxic waste into a river. Yes, the EPA -- via the cleanup crew they supervise:
Toxic wastewater from a mine continues to spill into the Animas River in La Plata County and has reached the confluence with the San Juan River in New Mexico.About 1 million gallons of wastewater from Colorado's Gold King Mine began spilling into the Animas River on Wednesday when a cleanup crew supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally breached a debris dam that had formed inside the mine.
..."This is going to be a long-term impact. The sediment, the metals in that sediment, are going to settle to the stream bottom and as we have storm surges, as we have flooding events, that sediment can and will likely get kicked back up," said EPA Region 8 Administrator Shaun McGrath.
The exact environmental impacts aren't known and there will likely be long-term impacts with how much metal is in the water.
via @adamkissel
It's okay. They are not Republicans, Conservatives, Coal Miners, or a fossil fuel electric plant.
No worries. No charges. No outcry.
Bob in Texas at August 10, 2015 5:49 AM
Hey, look over there! A squirrel! I mean...FRACKING!
Richard Aubrey at August 10, 2015 5:52 AM
Government is the big "olly olly oxen free." Malfeasance? Criminal negligence? Total mismanagement? Never mind.
Amy Alkon at August 10, 2015 6:21 AM
So, if the EPA fines the EPA can they just write themselves a check? What if they don't have enough money? Could the EPA bankrupt itself and put itself out of business?
Ben at August 10, 2015 6:31 AM
Oh, they'll find a way to blame the mine owners for it somehow.
Cousin Dave at August 10, 2015 6:50 AM
Bob: "no outcry" - exactly
If this had been an accident caused by a for-profit company then the nightly news would be holding special nightline-type "Breaking News" shows, the US Senate would be scheduling "inquiries" on Capital hill for public show, and various environmental groups would be demanding that ALL mining be shut down NOW for the sake of the children and our future.
And Cousin Dave; yep, they will find a way to blame the mine owners - you know, like "if they hadn't started the mine in the first place we wouldn't have had to be there." Or something to that effect.
charles at August 10, 2015 8:38 AM
And whom do we fine for this mishap? The EPA gets its money from the taxpayers.
The mine shut down in 1923, so good luck getting money from the company.
A private agency has motivation not to screw up, because it will cost them and hurt their bottom line. The EPA simply goes back to the magic taxpayer money tree and goes on with business as usual.
Whom do we fire? Layers of government bureaucracy and an established practice of dodging responsibility ensure that finding the person actually in charge of the operation will be difficult.
Ironically, the EPA was at the mine to prevent run-off into the river of toxic leavings from abandoned mines.
http://www.kunc.org/post/why-was-environmental-protection-agency-messing-mine-above-silverton#stream/0
And, of course, the EPA wanted more funds: "For years, the EPA has wanted to name areas around Silverton as a Superfund site. This brings funding for cleanups."
Conan the Grammarian at August 10, 2015 9:02 AM
The consensus on the comments on the story I read was that it's the fault of the republican congress for gutting the EPA. Amazing how everything is ALWAYS the fault of the republicans. I'm only surprised it wasn't Bush's fault (maybe it was, I couldn't read too far down the comment thread!)
chickia at August 10, 2015 9:19 AM
If they follow the standard government script, the EPA will use this disaster as a reason to tighten environmental restrictions on mining - even though the EPA themselves caused the disaster and the mining practices used in this mine were from the 1920s and are not used anymore.
Conan the Grammarian at August 10, 2015 11:12 AM
"Oh, they'll find a way to blame the mine owners for it somehow."
Well who else put all that shit there in the first place? Do they have some kind of Ferengi immunity because it was a business?
Jim at August 10, 2015 3:34 PM
"Oh, they'll find a way to blame the mine owners for it somehow."
Well who else put all that shit there in the first place? Do they have some kind of Ferengi immunity because it was a business?
Posted by: Jim at August 10, 2015 3:34 PM
No, they have immunity because they are all dead.
Furthermore, they weren't the proximate cause of the spill.
Isab at August 10, 2015 4:53 PM
"a cleanup crew supervised by the Environmental Protection Agency accidentally breached a debris dam"
So if the cleanup crew had been supervised by the corporation itself we'd be okay with it?
Interesting, in an only-liberals-are-hurt-by-pollution mindset.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 10, 2015 5:50 PM
This spill is such a shame. This Jolly Patriarch has spent time hiking the trails around nearby Ouray as the area is very scenic.
T. J. Patriarch at August 10, 2015 5:55 PM
Thanks for fucking up my state, EPA.
Assholes.
Daghain at August 10, 2015 6:49 PM
Well who else put all that shit there in the first place?
Well given the waste water was water that has trickled in from rains storms and spring melt, that would be nature, or god if you are delusional.
Shall we punish god so you can cling to your pathetic stateist mindset?
lujlp at August 10, 2015 7:41 PM
God has been punished enough Lujlp. Being omniscient isn't all that it's sold as. Just think, every time a snail has sex God has to watch. Can't close his eyes. Sees every disgusting thing out there. No wonder the old testament God was so angry and vengeful.
Ben at August 10, 2015 8:20 PM
I'm not sure what all would be in the waste water, or how it got there. It could be totally natural leaching. But sometimes gold mines do some processing of the ore at the mine site. They do this because the actual gold is such a small fraction of the total ore that is dug up, so if they can pre-process that and concentrate the gold a bit better, they save a lot on shipping. Gold is often found in conjunction with lead, so the pre-processing has the effect of concentrating lead salts in the process wastewater. Plus, a lot of the processes involve cynanide compounds. I've been trying to find out more, but there doesn't seem to be much info about this mine out on the Net.
Cousin Dave at August 11, 2015 7:38 AM
Just think, every time a snail has sex God has to watch. Can't close his eyes.
You a fan of Olgaf as well?
lujlp at August 11, 2015 10:29 AM
"every time a snail has sex God has to watch"
No, He CHOOSES to watch, much as He CHOOSES to let children suffer from any number of horrific medical maladies.
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at August 11, 2015 3:05 PM
http://oglaf.com/
lujlp at August 11, 2015 5:49 PM
It is a good comic Lujlp.
And no Gog. All seeing isn't choosing what to see and what not to see. It is seeing everything no matter what.
Ben at August 12, 2015 7:07 AM
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