Takings Case: Judge allows EPA to be hauled into court over 2015 Gold King Mine disaster
By Bonner Cohen, Ph. D. |November 23rd, 2022
The party responsible for the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history may soon have to defend itself in court thanks to a recent ruling by a federal judge in Washington, D.C. in response to a lawsuit filed by the New Civil Liberties Alliance (NCLA).
What makes the case unique is that the accused polluter is none other that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose handling, or mishandling, of the August 2015 Gold King Mine disaster is being challenged by a Colorado resident who suffered harm as a result of the agency’s action.
EPA’s botched effort, using a contractor paid by the agency, to seal a long-abandoned goldmine near Silverton in Southwest Colorado resulted in a blowout that sent 3 million gallons of acid mine drainage and sludge and 880,000 pounds of metal spilling into the nearby Animas River. The river turned yellow, and the waste and other gunk were carried downstream into New Mexico and as far as Lake Powell in California. Not only was the environmental damage significant, but people with properties in the path of the disaster were caught up in the spill.
https://www.cfact.org/2022/11/23/takings-case-judge-allows-epa-to-be-hauled-into-court-over-2015-gold-king-mine-disaster/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=takings-case-judge-allows-epa-to-be-hauled-into-court-over-2015-gold-king-mine-disaster
