DENVER, (Reuters) – Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper yesterday declared a “state of disaster emergency” over the accidental release of more than three million gallons (11.3 million liters) of potentially toxic wastewater from a defunct Colorado gold mine into local streams.
Hickenlooper said the order would free up some $500,000 from a state fund for response efforts to the spill, which was inadvertently triggered last week by a team of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) workers. The discharge, containing high concentrations of heavy metals such as arsenic, mercury and lead, was continuing to flow at the rate of 500 gallons (1,900 liters) per minute as of Sunday.
An unspecified number of residents living downstream of the spill who draw their drinking supplies from their private wells have reported water discoloration, but there has been no immediate evidence of harm to human health, livestock or wildlife, according to EPA officials.
