BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Interior Secretary Sally Jewell says she’s seen no evidence of criminal negligence in a toxic wastewater spill triggered by federal workers at an inactive Colorado gold mine.
Jewell said during congressional testimony Wednesday that the 3 million-gallon spill was clearly an accident by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency crew. She says the Aug. 5 case highlights the hazards posed by tens of thousands of abandoned mines across the country.
Republicans counter that Interior’s investigation into the spill amounted to a “whitewash” that fails to hold the EPA accountable.
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT) is asking the non-partisan Government Accountability Office to review Interior’s investigation.
The spill from the Gold King Mine unleashed a surge of arsenic, lead and other contaminants that fouled rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
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