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The Environmental Protection Agency, the federal agency committed to protecting “human health and the environment,” jeopardized both Wednesday by accidentally releasing one million gallons of wastewater into Colorado’s Animas River.

EPA bureaucrats were using heavy machinery to nose around the Gold King Mine near Durango, Colorado, when they triggered the release of wastewater containing heavy metals like zinc, iron, and copper.

The Denver Post reported that residents of Durango “gathered along the Animas River to watch as the blue waters turned a thick, radiant orange and yellow just after 8 p.m., nearly 34 hours after the spill started.”

“The river looks pretty nasty,” Deputy Stephen Lowrance of the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office told the Post. “It doesn’t look like water; it just looks like sludge.”

The EPA was reportedly investigating small leaks of toxic chemicals into the river near the mine when they triggered the million-gallon leak of toxic chemicals into the river.


http://freebeacon.com/issues/epa-dumps-one-million-gallons-of-wastewater-into-colorado-river/



------------------------------------------------------
Always trust the EPA.

I'd like to say this is unbelievable, but it is not. Sure is disgusting though.

Man dies after river incident in Durango (http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_28532748/man-dies-after-river-incident-durango?source=infinite)

"DURANGO, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say a man who died after he was found face-down in the Animas River in Durango may have slipped and fell into the river.

Coroner Jann Smith says authorities do not know the man's name.

Boaters found the man unresponsive in the river on Thursday. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful."

https://i.imgur.com/WphLhSi.png (http://www.denverpost.com/environment/ci_28601566/animas-river-spill-leaves-durango-officials-edge-waiting)

https://timedotcom.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/animas-river-mine-waste-water-jpeg.jpg?quality=65&strip=color&w=1100

State Of Emergency Declared In Colorado Town …EPA Disaster Three Times Bigger Than Estimated




The Environmental Protection Agency said Sunday the amount of waste water that spilled from the Gold King Mine and turned the Animas River orange was three times its original estimate.

Shaun McGrath, administrator from the EPA Region 8 Office, said three million gallons of the toxic water laced with heavy metals spilled into Cement Creek last Wednesday. McGrath said the agency updated its initial estimate of one million gallons after checking a U.S.G.S. stream gauge on Cement Creek.

Sunday marked five days since an EPA team mistakenly released the waste water from the abandoned Gold King Mine in Silverton. The orange plume was still moving at about 500 feet per minute, thinning as it reached areas near Farmington, New Mexico.


http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/08/09/state--emergency-durango-la-plata-county/31381113/

 ;D :D ;D

Its an environmental disasteroni, with toxic heavy metalsoni, and massive death of natureoni, and lots of people poisondoni, lets thank the Environmental Protection Agencioni for a move that is ironioni and completely boneheadedoni!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdeQZANLmH0

LOL. It took me a second to see what you did there.

The funny thing is the EPA is busy dumping millions of gallons of toxic waste destroying local economies, water aquifers, and the environment itself, but we really should be worrying about this whole carbon dioxide thing! Jokes aside, this us utterly appalling. I feel bad for the local residents who will have no jobs and no drinking water as a result of this.

Whoever is responsible for this tragedy should be immediately fired and have to pay at least 1% of the total clean up cost.
If they cant afford that, then they should immediately be issued a pool skimmer and start skimming.....

Wow that's big news!
What a tragic irony! This is how the Environmental protection agency protects our nature!!!
It looks like they got overloaded with liquid yellowish toxic shit  :D :D :D
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03404/yellow-river-color_3404138b.jpg

Environment Polluting Assholes.

https://i.imgur.com/22FMMHX.jpg

In case you want to make your own https://i.imgur.com/krWMBdp.png

A more curious aspect of this situation is that readers believe that “three million gallons of the toxic water laced with heavy metals” (Brennan (http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2015/08/09/state--emergency-durango-la-plata-county/31381113/)) could have been “released” (Brennan) so trivially as to have genuinely been so “mistakenly” (Brennan).

She said she is responsible... Does that mean she will quit? I doubt it...

Too bad reddit does not care.

You (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1146765.msg12118043#msg12118043) believe her (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fall%20guy#mwEntryData) to be "responsible" (Wilikon) merely because "he said she is" (Wilikon)?

No. I believe no one (upper level) will lose their job over this destruction.

Do you suspect the "incident" to have been purposeful?

It appears that whatever can be done to worsen California's drought relief, is being waged by our state and federal government.

Did I suspect the Deepwater Horizon oil spill "incident" in the golf of mexico was purposeful?

No. I did not. They paid for the clean up. $18.7 billion in fines...

Fossil fuel was created by mother nature. That yellow soup was created by man...

Does that "dig a hole" which demands, consistently, an uptick in either private, public, or both private and public sector expenditures?

http://www.conversationstarters.com/generator.php

 8)

Letter to Editor PREDICTED COLORADO EPA SPILL One Week Before Catastrophe=> So EPA Could Secure Superfund Status



Last Wednesday, a small EPA-supervised work crew inspecting the Gold King mine accidentally knocked a hole in a waste pit, releasing at least three million gallons of acidic liquid laden with toxic heavy metals. (ABC)

This letter to editor, posted below, was published in The Silverton Standard and The Miner local newspaper, authored by a retired geologist, one week before EPA mine spill. The letter detailed verbatim, how EPA officials would foul up the Animas River on purpose in order to secure superfund money. It the Gold King mine was declared a superfund site it would essentially kill future development for the mining industry. The Obama EPA is vehemently opposed to mining and development.


The EPA pushed for nearly 25 years, to apply its Superfund program to the Gold King mine. If a leak occurred the EPA would then receive superfund status. That is exactly what happened.

The EPA today admitted they misjudged the pressure in the gold mine before the spill – just as this editorial predicted.

The letter was included in their print edition on July 30, 2015. The spill occurred one week later.






http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2015/08/letter-to-editor-predicted-colorado-epa-spill-one-week-before-catastrophe-so-epa-could-secure-superfund-cash/


--------------------------------------------
Can the 0bama administration be that corrupted?

 :o

Before I read this, whenever I would talk about it, I actually put quotes around the word accidentally. I never believed this to be anything but purposeful. But I am shocked someone predicted it. I would have thought they'd be sneakier than that.

Predicted. Down to the precise numbers...
Whoever asked me the question if I believed it was in purpose knew something was up...

Democrats, green activists scrambling to provide cover for EPA in Gold King Mine spill


DENVER — The environmental left can be counted on to whip up an outcry whenever a private company despoils a gulf, stream or river — unless the polluter in question is the Environmental Protection Agency.

After days with little or no reaction to the Gold King Mine spill, some Democrats and green activists are scrambling to provide cover for the EPA by pointing fingers elsewhere and downplaying the magnitude of the blowout, which flooded the Animas River with 3 million gallons of toxic orange wastewater.

“Blaming the EPA for #AnimasRiver spill is like blaming a doctor for the disease,” Conservation Colorado said in a Wednesday tweet.

Said Colorado state Rep. Joe Salazar, a Democrat, on Twitter: “Focus of #AnimasRiver contamination should be on mining companies and their mining practices, not EPA, yes?”

The Sierra Club Rocky Mountain chapter posted a link to an article titled “9 things you need to know about the Animas River spill.” The list includes “The EPA messed up, but they’re not the root cause” and “This isn’t the first time this has happened, nor is it the worst.”

Colorado state Sen. Ellen Roberts, a Republican who represents Durango, said she didn’t appreciate the campaign. She said it muddies the waters amid the effort to determine what toxins are in the river and a plan to clean up of the spill.

“It’s clear that the EPA from the start has admitted that they were the cause of the spill, so I find this troubling,” said Ms. Roberts. “These groups — they’re trying to shift the focus. I think they have a different agenda.”

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy continued Wednesday to make amends for the accident by touring the Animas River in Durango. She said the agency will “immediately cease any field investigation work” to ensure that there is no chance of a repeat spill.

She said water quality in La Plata County, Colorado, has returned to “pre-event conditions.”

Ms. McCarthy, who said she was “deeply sorry” in a Tuesday speech, is scheduled Thursday to visit the recovery efforts in Farmington, New Mexico, where the orange plume from the Animas River connected with the San Juan River.

The Aug. 5 spill of acidic waste, coupled with the EPA’s failure to notify anyone for 24 hours, has led Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye to threaten a lawsuit. The attorneys general for Colorado, New Mexico and Utah met Wednesday in Durango to discuss a coordinated legal response.

“It is the job of the attorney general to hold folks accountable, and that is what I am going to do in Colorado,” state Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said at a Wednesday press conference.

For groups like ProgressNow-Colorado, however, the emphasis is on the political fallout from the accident. The EPA needs all the good will it can muster as it launches its hotly contested Clean Power Plan.

ProgressNow’s Amy Runyon-Harris sent out talking points Tuesday on the spill, which included, “Did the EPA ‘cause’ the Animas River mine water spill?” The answer: “Yes and no.”

“Abandoned hard-rock mines in the mountains above Silverton have been a source of water pollution for many years. The EPA was investigating ongoing water pollution from these mines,” Ms. Runyon-Harris said in her memo.

“In short, the EPA did cause the spill, but not the pollution itself,” she said.

Blaming the mining company

Mesa County activist Claudette Konola said in a Wednesday op-ed in Grand Junction’s Daily Sentinel that the real blame lies with “the mining company that never cleaned up the mess they left.”

But fingering the culprit may be a job better suited for a historian than the FBI. The Gold King Mine, active from 1890 to 1923, is one of about 23,000 decommissioned or abandoned mines dating back to Colorado’s gold rush days.

The Gold King Mine was ultimately purchased by the San Juan Corp., which said in a statement shortly after the blowout that it “has never mined the property or contributed to existing environmental conditions.”

“Using the best information available, it is believed that much of the contaminated water at the mine originated from another mining source and migrated to the Gold King Mine,” the company said. “SJC has worked cooperatively with the EPA to create a viable long term solution to the problem that has existed since 2003.”

The acidic orange discharge has alarmed locals, but some environmentalists insist it isn’t as bad as it looks, even though the spill contains heavy metals such as cadmium, copper, lead and arsenic. Only one of 108 fish died after being placed in cages in the Animas River, and wildlife officials have said there appears to be no danger to animals drinking from the river.

At the same time, the contamination is expected to settle into the sediment, resulting in spikes in the river’s concentration of metals after storms and heavy rainfall, said David Ostrander, the EPA’s unified area command leader in Durango.

“This material that was recently discharged will be stirred up during high rain events or spring runoff and continue to move downstream over time,” Mr. Ostrander said at Tuesday’s press conference.

“The impacts from this initial response will be measured and monitored for a number of years going forward to assess any impacts from this discharge,” he said.

Jonathan Lockwood, head of the free-market group Advancing Colorado, accused environmentalists of hypocrisy, saying they would never attempt to dismiss the impact of contamination caused by corporations.

“When a private company makes a mistake, environmental groups scream bloody murder,” Mr. Lockwood said. “But when the EPA inflicts a dangerous blow to the economy and environment, they try to deflect and dodge the reality and downplay the outrage.”

Ms. Roberts gave the EPA credit for its “forthrightness in admitting responsibility” instead of trying to shift blame elsewhere. The EPA-led crew at the site included agency employees and private contractors.

At the end of the day, however, “The question is, ‘How did the Animas River get that toxic sludge?’” she said. “And the answer to that question is, ‘The EPA put it there.’”


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/12/gold-king-mine-spill-democrats-green-activists-scr/

EPA Promises to Work With Navajo Leaders on Toxic Spill – Then Tries to Swindle Them #IndianLivesMatter



The EPA is trying to cheat Navajo Indians by getting them to sign away their rights to future claims from the agency’s Gold King Mine disaster, tribal officials charged Wednesday, adding more to the administration’s public relations problems over the spill that threatens critical Southwest waterways.

Environmental Protection Agency officials were going door to door asking Navajos, some of whom don’t speak English as their primary language, to sign a form that offers to pay damages incurred so far from the spill, but waiving the right to come back and ask for more if their costs escalate or if they discover bigger problems, Navajo President Russell Begaye told The Washington Times.

Mr. Begaye has promised a lawsuit on behalf of the Navajo Nation and said he suspects the EPA is trying to buy off as many Navajo as possible now to head off a bigger settlement later.

The spill has dumped millions of gallons of polluted wastewater into the Animas River, which feeds the San Juan River and eventually the Colorado River, which provide water for grazing and crops in much of the Four Corners area, the quadripoint of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The Navajo Nation covers much of that territory.



http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/aug/12/indians-say-epa-trying-swindle-them-mine-spill/

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2015/08/13/Navajo-Nation-vows-to-sue-EPA-after-toxic-mine-spill/6431439461304/




2015-08-12 Mark Levin on EPA pressuring Indians to sign waivers so they won't sue

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbt5Nc8EKBA

How apropos (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1134431.msg11964117#msg11964117). I wonder if he was making a joke.

EPA Contractor Behind CO Mine Spill Got $381 Million From Taxpayers


The EPA may have been trying to hide the identity of the contracting company responsible for causing a major wastewater spill in southern Colorado, but the Wall Street Journal has revealed the company’s identity.

Environmental Restoration (ER) LLC, a Missouri-based firm, was the “contractor whose work caused a mine spill in Colorado that released an estimated 3 million gallons of toxic sludge into a major river system,” the WSJ was told by a source familiar with the matter. The paper also found government documents to corroborate what their source told them.

So far, the EPA has refused to publicly name the contracting company used to plug abandoned mines in southern Colorado, despite numerous attempts by The Daily Caller News Foundation and other media outlets to obtain the information. It’s unclear why the agency chose not to reveal the contractor’s name.

What is clear, however, is that ER has gotten $381 million in government contracts since October 2007, according to a WSJ review of data from USAspending.gov. About $364 million of that funding came from the EPA, but only $37 million was given to ER for work they had done in Colorado.

http://dailycaller.com/2015/08/12/epa-contractor-behind-co-mine-spill-got-381-million-from-taxpayer/

(Citation mine.)

America’s Pervasive Indifference Towards Double Standards Will Let the EPA Off the Hook



You could say President Richard Nixon played a role in my very existence.

You could also say the same of Al Capone (no, really!), but that’s another story for another day.

Forty-one years ago this month a group of teens gathered around a TV set at a youth event, watching our 37th president resign from office after the infamous Watergate scandal.

At one point, a seat opened up next to the cute redhead all the girls had been eyeing—and my mom took the chance.


After 35 years of marriage, four kids and two grandkids later, the rest is history.

So yes, you could say President Nixon played a role in my existence … sort of.

But back to Watergate for just a moment, and bear with me while I connect a few historical dots.

Now a presidential candidate herself, Hillary Clinton once launched her legal career as part of the Watergate investigation, and played a role in Nixon’s ultimate demise.

Fast forward nearly half a century, and Clinton’s reckless State Department email trickery make Nixon’s sins look like child’s play. And for anyone else, it would be cause for a swift ticket to federal prison. Yet a combination of Clinton’s political clout and a broad acceptance of double standards will probably guarantee that Clinton gets away with it. With all of it.

Ok, so what do Richard Nixon, Watergate, and Hillary Clinton have to do with the Environmental Protection Agency?

(Other than the fact, incidentally, that Nixon created the EPA.)

Not unlike how Hillary Clinton will probably get away with lying and Nixon didn’t, the double standard that is so pervasive in our political culture will all but guarantee that the EPA gets away with a toxic spill that would probably ruin a private entity.

This isn’t just about the “gotcha” moment. It’s not just about preaching to the choir.

It’s about illuminating the double standard; the “get out of jail free” card that only a chosen few possess.

In what is now a disaster three times as large as originally reported, the EPA is responsible for spilling several million gallons of toxic waste (rife with things like arsenic and mercury at incredibly high levels) into a tributary of the Animas River in Colorado—ultimately exposing residents in three states to “an array of health problems from cancer to kidney disease to developmental problems in children.”

(And this, by the way, is the same agency tasked with enforcing the sweeping climate regulations I wrote about last week. Go figure.)

Sure, there’s been some outcry. However (save for those really paying attention or directly affected) it sure seems like it’s barely news. While the effects of this accident have the potential of being far more detrimental in the long run than say, the BP oil spill, it’s receiving a fraction of the coverage (and a fraction of the outrage).

You see, they’re on the safe side of the double standard.

And, once the river’s yellow hue has fully faded, so will the story. And the EPA will continue on with business as usual—wasting no time in coming down hard on individuals and companies purportedly guilty of environmental sins infinitely smaller by comparison.

It’s a glaring double standard.

Remember when the EPA sued Navistar International Corporation for violating the Clean Air Act in 2010, after Navistar “sold, offered for sale, introduced or delivered engines that did not satisfy emissions standards applicable to model-year 2010 engines”? It could potentially cost the company $37,000 a day, per violation.

Remember when the EPA sued Edge Products for “manufacturing and selling electronic devices that allowed owners of model year 2007 and later diesel pickup trucks to remove emission controls from their vehicles”? That suit sought $500,000 in civil penalties.

Remember when the EPA accused Wyoming welder Andy Johnson of violating the Clean Water Act by building a pond in his back yard? The EPA’s threats in that case included a $75,000 a day fine.

Remember when the EPA tried to subject the Sackett family of Idaho to a similar $75,000 a day fine over claims that the construction of their new home was interfering with wetlands?

I’m not saying that the EPA will face zero blowback over this river spill. At least for now, certain groups plan to file lawsuits (and it certainly wouldn’t be the first time the EPA’s been sued).

The difference, however, is that the EPA has the full force of the federal government behind it.

And unlike the companies and families the EPA has targeted, the EPA doesn’t have to worry about much—regardless of one or a million lawsuits levied against it. (If anything, the unelected agency will grow increasingly stronger as they enforce the president’s sweeping Clean Power regulations.)

Not only is it unlikely that the EPA will experience a taste of its own medicine, but the agency is actually taking an active role in trying to prevent that from happening. Specifically, the agency has tried to coax members of the Navajo Nation to “waive rights to future compensation for damages incurred by the toxic spill.”

In other words, the EPA knows darn well that the spill’s consequences are far from over, despite claims that the river is “back to pre-spill quality.” Waiving rights to future compensation just saves the agency future headaches.

You see, it can do whatever it wants—no consequences—because by virtue of its position as part of the federal government bureaucracy, it’s on the favorable side of the double standard.

After all, what else explains the fact that this agency—whose sole existence is ostensibly to protect the environment—is responsible for an accident that left the riverbeds in three states laced with poisonous toxins like arsenic and lead to be stirred up for years to come, yet it’s hardly a blip on the news cycle?

Imagine for a moment if a private company had caused the spill.

There would be an all-hands-on-deck, full-fledged investigation. Every shred of evidence would be combed through, particularly claims that such a spill would be convenient for “superfund site” designation, and that a leak of precisely this nature would achieve exactly that.

I’m not holding my breath, because on this side of the double standard, you don’t have to answer for your actions outside of a few public appearances and apologies.

Believe it or not, it really does matter. A pervasive, persistent indifference to double standards lets bad behavior keep right on rolling.

I realize I’m not telling most of you something that don’t already know. Yup, there’s double standards in government. (Insert collective snore here.)

So seriously—when are we going to start caring?


http://www.theblaze.com/contributions/americas-pervasive-indifference-towards-double-standards-will-let-the-epa-off-the-hook/

It's really sick. People will have to pay the piper some day though.

Unfortunately not soon enough....Im really tired of reading horrible stories such as these.
How do certain people come home from "work", kiss their wife and kids, eat a hot GMO dinner, and sleep soundly on their Chinese made mattress at night??

Disgusting on so many levels its simply sad.
Humans are becoming more and more disappointing year after year.

Todd Hennis (the owner of the Gold King Mine) is claiming that mismanagement in an abandoned mine nearby (Sunnyside mine) is the reason why the spill occurred. And the Sunnyside Gold Corporation (owned by  Kinross Gold) is denying any responsibility for this.

BTW... I don't know whether it is economically feasible to install water treatment facilities at all the abandoned mines. There are a total of 22,000 abandoned mines in the state of Colorado alone, and many of them are leaking acid mine drainage.

The original mining company should be sued if any of it still exists, the EPA was trying to clean the mess they left, mess which would have already spilled long ago without the EPA by the way.

I don't know whether that will be right. The mining company was already paying for the cleanup, which was being undertaken by the EPA. And also, the breach happened, after the EPA guys mistakenly drilled a concrete wall, which was holding back large amount of toxic waste. In my opinion, the EPA is solely to blame for this catastrophe.

Navajo Farmers: EPA Sent Us More Contaminated Water  (http://kunm.org/post/navajo-farmers-epa-sent-us-more-contaminated-water#stream/0)

"Update Aug. 18, 11:30 a.m.: The EPA said the water for the Navajo Nation came from nearby Bloomfield and met state and federal quality standards. The trucks came from a division of an Aztec, N.M.-based company, Triple S Trucking, that moves non-potable water. The company also hauls fluids to and from oil fields. KUNM awaits comment from Triple S. "
...
Farmers in Shiprock say the tankers arriving with desperately needed hydration for their crops contained water that smelled like petroleum, was visibly discolored and had an odd sheen to it.

“The barrels are not clean,” said Farm Board Representative Joe Ben Jr. “They are from oil drilling operations.”

The deliveries were intended to help crops that are wilting in the sun after the spill at the Gold King Mine in Colorado on Aug. 5 contaminated the San Juan River downstream. Ben halted the distribution of the emergency replacement water. “The EPA has begun to study this water,” he said. “In the meantime, our plants are dying.”.....

Who is going to fine the EPA? If this was any other company the EPA would fine them to the point that they are out of business. The EPA should do the same to themselves . Oh wait they won't do that.

Documents: EPA knew before spill that gold mine was at risk of toxic water 'blowout'



U.S. officials knew of the potential for a catastrophic "blowout" of poisonous wastewater from an inactive gold mine, yet appeared to have only a cursory plan to deal with such an event when a government cleanup team triggered a 3-million-gallon spill, according to internal documents released by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA released the documents late Friday following weeks of prodding from The Associated Press and other media organizations. While shedding some light on the circumstances surrounding the accident, the newly disclosed information also raises more questions about whether enough was done to prevent it.

The Aug. 5 spill came as workers excavated the entrance to the idled Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado, unleashing a torrent of toxic water that fouled rivers in three states.

A June 2014 work order for a planned cleanup noted the mine had not been accessible since 1995, when the entrance partially collapsed.

"This condition has likely caused impounding of water behind the collapse," the report said. "Conditions may exist that could result in a blowout of the blockages and cause a release of large volumes of contaminated mine waters and sediment from inside the mine."

A May 2015 action plan produced by an EPA contractor, Environmental Restoration LLC, also noted the potential for a blowout. It was not clear what additional precautions were taken to prepare for such a release.

Much of the documents were redacted. Among the items blacked out was a line specifying whether workers were required to have phones that could work at the remote site, at an elevation of 11,000 feet.

A 71-page safety plan for the site included only a few lines describing what to do if there was a spill: Locate the source and stop the flow, begin containment and recovery of the spilled materials, and alert downstream drinking water systems as needed.

EPA spokesman David Gray said Saturday that the work order outlined steps that should have been followed, but he did not directly address whether those steps were followed, citing ongoing investigations into the accident.

Colorado Attorney General Cynthia Coffman said after reviewing the documents that she remained frustrated with the EPA's lack of answers.

"The plan indicates there was an understanding of what might happen and what the potential consequences were. We don't know whether they followed the plan," Coffman told The Associated Press. "I want to give the EPA the benefit of the doubt here. I really want to do that. It's getting harder."

The wastewater flowed into a tributary of the Animas and San Juan rivers, turning them a sickly yellow-orange color and tainting them with lead, arsenic, thallium and other heavy metals that can cause health problems and harm aquatic life. The toxic plume traveled roughly 300 miles through Colorado, New Mexico and Utah, to Lake Powell on the Arizona-Utah border.

EPA water testing has shown contamination levels returning to pre-spill levels, though experts warn some of the contaminants likely sunk and mixed with bottom sediments and could someday be stirred back up.

The documents released at about 10:30 p.m. EDT Friday did not account for what happened immediately before or after the spill.

Elected officials have been critical of the EPA's response. Among the unanswered questions is why it took the agency nearly a day to inform downstream communities that rely on the rivers for drinking water.

Coffman criticized the "late Friday night document dump" and said the redaction of key facts would heighten public suspicions. She also indicated that it undercut EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy's statements accepting responsibility.

EPA spokeswoman Melissa Harrison said the agency has been inundated with media inquiries and worked diligently to respond to them. All information must go through a legal review, she added.



http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/08/22/epa-knew-of-blow-out-risk-for-tainted-water-at-gold-mine

8/21/2015 — EPA delivers Toxic Oil / Fracking water tanks to Navajo Indians for PUBLIC USE (http://dutchsinse.com/8212015-epa-delivers-toxic-oil-fracking-water-tanks-to-navajo-indians-for-public-use/)

"Being that the EPA was responsible for the release of the toxic water, they are responsible for getting fresh water to the people cut off further down the river.

The American Indian Navajo Nation trusted the EPA / US Government would do the right thing — that the culprits of the spill would be held responsible, and they would bring in fresh water for public use while the whole mess is cleaned up.....

The Navajo Nation received ‘water’ for public use as was promised.

Unfortunately, the water was delivered in USED OIL WELL / FRACKING WASTEWATER TANKS!

Search “Gunbarrel Oil separator tanks” to see many examples.

The “water” sent to the Indian nation for crop, and animal use was literally sent in unwashed oil tanks — still filled partially with petroleum, and toxic chemicals. (This toxic “water” is not even safe to the touch for humans , animals, or plants / crops)".....

Sounds like this is all part of the conspiracy to privatize fresh water sources.

---

The following is from: http://www.thecommonsenseshow.com/2015/06/20/the-un-is-conquering-america-through-the-control-of-all-water/

"There is a second front which is being used to create an artificial water shortage in the United States. Perrier, a subsidiary of the multi-national Nestle corporation, has invested heavily in Michigan and the Great Lakes. Locked behind two sets of chain link fence, huge siphoning pumps are deliberately hidden from view in the forest. They are pumping the Great Lakes dry and shipping the water overseas. Much of the Great Lakes water is headed for China, filled in massive cargo bags which are pulled across the ocean by a large supertanker."

https://i.imgur.com/sweS2lG.jpg

---

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/03/24/it-is-actually-illegal-in-colorado-to-collect-the-rain-that-falls-on-your-home/

"Do you live in Colorado? Does it rain on your house? Do the drops patter off the roof, compose romantic puddles on your porch?

Guess what: That water isn’t yours. You can’t have it. And you most certainly cannot set out a tank to catch what falls from the sky, you thief."

---

https://i.imgur.com/Fii26k9.jpg

Of course when they poison the water, some of that will go into the air and contaminate their rain too, right?

The rain got contaminated in China recently.

EPA says new clean water rules are in effect even though judge suspended them


The very same crew which recently dumped three million gallons of toxic sludge out of an abandoned mine and turned the Animas River in Colorado the color of a yellow banded poison dart frog for roughly a week has just issued a whole new set of rules to “protect” small pools of water. They would also like you to know that these rules are going into effect even though a federal judge put them on hold in 13 states, too. This new batch of regulations is going to “protect” bodies of water which may include the ditch in front of your driveway or that persistent soggy patch in your back yard. (Fox News)

The Environmental Protection Agency says it is going forward with a new federal rule to protect small streams, tributaries and wetlands, despite a court ruling that blocked the measure in 13 central and Western states.

The EPA says the rule, which took effect Friday in more than three dozen states, will safeguard drinking water for millions of Americans.

Opponents pledged to continue to fight the rule, emboldened by a federal court decision Thursday that blocked it from Alaska to Arkansas.


These rules were not suddenly rushed out in response to the agency’s own recent hijinks in an effort to make sure nobody else pulls such a boneheaded maneuver. They’ve been in the works for quite a while and a coalition of people ranging from farmers to landowners to states’ rights advocates have been howling about them. Though they are supposedly in place to prevent pollution in smaller tributary streams which feed into larger waterways, the rules are so broadly written that they could apply to virtually anyplace where water pools on the surface of the earth, leading to a permitting nightmare for the landowner if they want to do so much as landscape the area for drainage. The rules have been viewed as being so odius that the Farm Bureau started a massive push to trim them back down in scope. And finally a federal judge hearing the case for plaintiffs in 13 states agreed to put them on hold. (Greeley Tribune)

The federal ruling Thursday was in North Dakota, where officials from that state and 12 others argued the new guidelines are overly broad and infringe on their sovereignty. U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson in Fargo agreed that they might have a case, issuing a temporary injunction.

The EPA said after the ruling that it would not implement the new rules in those 13 states — Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Several other lawsuits remain, from other states and also from farm and business groups.

You might think that having a judge shut the process down in more than one quarter of the country might give the agency pause. But apparently not… it’s full steam ahead in all of the states where they weren’t expressly forbidden to move forward. But how does that work in legal terms? Aren’t they a federal agency which is supposed to be making rules for the entire nation? If their regulations are shut down in part of the country, how can they be enforced in the rest?

Don’t worry yourselves. I’m sure the Justice Department will weigh in on this any minute now and reassure us that the EPA can do whatever it wants. Now if you’ll excuse them, they have a few more miles of river to dredge up and a bunch of mercury to hide back in a mine shaft.


http://hotair.com/archives/2015/08/29/epa-says-new-clean-water-rules-are-in-effect-even-though-judge-suspended-them/

This is just unbelievable but not really. Even the place put up to protect our freedoms are taking away freedoms. Protesters have no free-speech rights on Supreme Court’s front porch (http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/protesters-have-no-free-speech-rights-on-supreme-courts-front-porch/2015/08/28/f79ae262-4d9e-11e5-bfb9-9736d04fc8e4_story.html)

Do I trust the EPA to not go along with this in the place it's not to go along with this? Not really. Only if they are literally forced. I know people in the Social Security lie to people about their benefits. You can't really trust anything in the US anymore. The protection agency is poisoning our water and sending oily fracking water to the Navajo people. Who's really proud to be an American anymore? We can't really do anything about it though.

EPA hits farmer with $16M in fines for building stock pond





It was just this weekend when we saw the EPA moving head with sweeping regulations which redefine the meaning of the Clean Water Act, seeking to extend their control over every pool of water in the country, despite the fact that a federal judge had put enforcement of the regulations on hold in 13 states. Today we’ll take a brief look at a case which has been percolating for quite a while and demonstrates the way that the agency can impact the lives of farmers and rural landowners. Andy Johnson, a farmer from Fort Bridger, Wyoming, made the bold move in 2012 of building a small earthen dam across a creek which runs through his property to create a stock pond for his horses and cattle. We’re not talking about a hydroelectric dam on a river here.. this is a stream that you can walk across without getting the tops of your socks wet for most of the year.

How this attracted the attention of the EPA isn’t exactly clear, but they came down on Andy like a ton of bricks, hitting him with fines which now total more than $16M.

Even though the Clean Water Act exempts stock ponds, and Mr. Johnson had obtained the necessary state permits, the EPA ordered him in January 2014 to restore the area to its original condition or accumulate fines of $37,500 a day. Instead, Mr. Johnson hired a lawyer.

“The EPA is out to expand its power, and I’m a test case,” said Mr. Johnson in a statement. “We’re going to fight them all the way.”

Last week, his attorneys — including the Pacific Legal Foundation and the Budd-Falen law firm in Cheyenne — filed a lawsuit against the agency to stop it from enforcing the compliance order.

Because the creek feeds into the Green River the EPA seems to feel that they hold jurisdiction over it, though calling that stream “navigable waters” would require expanding the definition of “boats” to include “galoshes.” Also, the “dam” in question was composed of sand, gravel, clay and concrete blocks, which the agency decided met the criteria for “pollutants.” (Aside from the cinder blocks, those materials are also locally known as “the ground.”) Amazingly, Johnson had filed for and been granted the appropriate local and state permits to have a stock pond, and stock ponds are specifically excluded from the traditional wording of the Clean Water Act. No matter… the agency felt that action was required to save the world and they were going to leap to the rescue.

The truly ironic part is that Johnson had the water in the creek tested above and below his pond and the results indicated that the downstream water was actually cleaner than when it came in because the pond allowed sediment to settle out.

Let’s remember that the EPA was doing all of this long before they submitted their new guidelines which will allow them to regulate the water in your dog’s drinking dish. With these new rules they’re just looking to codify their ability to continue the meddling they’ve already been engaged in. Keep that in mind as this battle moves forward because Mr. Johnson’s property is all of eight acres in size. His pond wouldn’t support a self respecting brook trout. And the EPA wants to fine him $16M dollars. Something has to be done to bring this agency in check.


http://hotair.com/archives/2015/08/31/epa-hits-farmer-with-16m-in-fines-for-building-stock-pond/

I keep saying this. I can't believe them, they are such hypocrites going after people (especially when the water is cleaner when it leaves him!) when they can't take care of waters, and it actually looks like they messed up the river on purpose for money. But I can believe it really, because everything I've been researching leads me to believe it's on purpose and this case will probably be decided in the EPAs favor, because everyone with money behind them wins.

Video: Navajo Nation: Environmental Protection Agency DOOMED!  (https://youtu.be/yfj1v2pncko)

"McCarthy from the EPA was grilled by House Oversite Committee and a blogger was referred to as being unstable and an agitator who do you think that was? lol
EPA EDITED& PROFESSOR DOOM VINDICATED! (https://youtu.be/IIXdgcM3mcU)"

EPA Considers Water Treatment Facility At Gold King Mine After Animas River Spill…


The Environmental Protection Agency is considering a temporary water-treatment plant after the Gold King Mine spill.

Documents released this week highlight a bidding process that began a little over two weeks after last month’s spill. The request is for a subcontractor to begin work in anticipation of a treatment facility. Water would be piped from the Gold King Mine near Silverton to Red and Bonita Mine and the “future site” of a water-treatment plant in Gladstone.

The EPA tasked Environmental Restoration, LLC with the Request for Proposal. The contractor was performing reclamation with the EPA on Aug. 5 when an excavation error by the team at Gold King caused an estimated 3 million gallons of orange mining sludge to pour into the Animas River. Initial tests showed spikes in heavy metals.

Experts agree that the best solution is a treatment facility, though such a plant would be costly. The EPA offered no cost estimates for such a facility, nor would it say where the funding would come from. A reclamation expert with the Colorado School of Mines told The Durango Herald a temporary treatment plant would cost around $3 million.

Gold King continues to leak about 550 gallons of wastewater per minute.

“The issuance of a work order doesn’t mean that there has been a final decision to build a wastewater treatment plant. Agency staff initiated the RFP process immediately after the spill so that the procurement process would be well underway if that decision were to be made,” said EPA spokeswoman Christie St. Clair.

The contractor is currently evaluating six proposals for construction. The bidding process is open until Aug. 28. The system would need to be operational within 21 days of a subcontractor being awarded the contract.

“The agency is conducting an analysis to determine if a temporary treatment plant provides a measurable benefit to water quality downstream in the Animas River,” St. Clair said. “The agency is closely coordinating with officials in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Southern Ute tribe, Mountain Ute tribe and Navajo Nation to develop a comprehensive, long-term plan for the Gold King Mine site.”

Building a plant would be difficult, given that the terrain is mountainous, rocky and steep.

“The system must be able to be operated all year at elevations between 11,400 feet and 10,500 feet. Extreme cold and heavy snow are to be expected and planned for. The system must be self-contained as there are no amenities on site,” the RFP says.


http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20150917/NEWS01/150919643/article/20150917/NEWS01/150919643/Treatment-plant-considered-for-Gold-King-


-------------------------------------------
Was this an accident?

So i wonder if they plan on issuing themselves a fine?  As they fine anyone else that may have an accident like this.  wonder if they will take a pay cut for a month or something.   l dought it.

EPA spends millions on military-style weapons, watchdog group reports


The Environmental Protection Agency has spent millions of dollars over the last decade on military-style weapons to arm its 200 “special agents” to fight environmental crime.

Among the weapons purchased are guns, body armor, camouflage equipment, unmanned aircraft, amphibious assault ships, radar and night-vision gear and other military-style weaponry and surveillance activities, according to a new report by the watchdog group Open the Books.

“Protecting the environment just got real. With millions of dollars spent on military style weaponry, the EPA is now literally ensconced with all institutional force,” said Adam Andrzejewski, founder of Open the Books and the author of the report.

“Our report discovered that when the EPA comes knocking they are armed with a thousand lawyers, arrest/criminal data, credit, business and property histories, plus a ‘Special Agent’ with the latest in weaponry and technology,” Mr. Andrzejewski added.

The agency spends nearly $75 million each year for criminal enforcement, including money for a small militia of 200 “special agents” charged with fighting environmental crime.

Congress granted police powers to the EPA in 1988, during the Reagan administration.

The special agent “enforces the nation’s laws by investigating cases, collecting evidence, conducting forensic analyses and providing legal guidance to assist in the prosecution of criminal conduct that threatens people’s health and the environment,” according to the EPA’s website.

The EPA estimates that each Special Agent costs taxpayers $216,000 per year in salary, travel, equipment, training and other expenses, according to the report.

The EPA’s military weapons spending is just one example of the agency’s questionable purchases highlighted in the 40-page report.

Open the Books, a nonpartisan and nonprofit group based in Illinois, scanned tens of thousands of the agency’s spending contracts totaling more than $93 billion from 2000 to 2014.

Among the findings were hundreds of millions of dollars on high-end office furnishings, sports equipment and “environmental justice” grants to raise awareness of global warming.

The report also reveals that seven of 10 EPA employees make more than $100,000 a year and more than 12,000 of its 16,000 employees were given bonuses last year despite budget cuts.

The EPA also employs more than 1,000 attorneys, making it one of the largest law firms in the country.

The agency also sent over $50 million since 2000 to international organizations, including groups in Mexico and China.


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/oct/10/epa-spends-millions-on-military-style-weapons-repo/

So, are they going to be fined millions of $ and shut down for several months while some government agencies wander aimlessly around their worksites?

They claim to protect the environment but they really just want kickbacks from large corporations that want to pollute. figures

Just passed a car wash yesterday that had a giant banner advertising relief from "acid rain". Hey EPA and California Air Resources Board, et al: you fucking failed.

Next time snap a picture (and make sure to delete the meta data, exif) and share with us.

Why Did the Environmental Protection Agency Spend $1.4 Million on Guns?

[...]
The headline of an op-ed by economist Stephen Moore in Investor’s Business Daily sums it up well: “Why Does the EPA Need Guns, Ammo, and Armor to Protect the Environment?”

And not just a few weapons. Open the Books found that the agency has spent millions of dollars over the last decade on guns, ammo, body armor, camouflage equipment, unmanned aircraft, amphibious assault ships, radar and night-vision gear, and other military-style weaponry and surveillance activities.

“We were shocked ourselves to find these kinds of pervasive expenditures at an agency that is supposed to be involved in clean air and clean water,” said Open the Books founder Adam Andrzejewski. “Some of these weapons are for full-scale military operations.”

[...]
Among the EPA’s purchases:

$1.4 million for “guns up to 300mm.”
$380,000 for “ammunition.”
$210,000 for “camouflage and other deceptive equipment.”
$208,000 for “radar and night-vision equipment.”
$31,000 for “armament training devices.”

http://dailysignal.com/2015/10/30/why-did-the-environmental-protection-agency-spend-1-4-million-on-guns/

EPA Knew About Michigan Water Contamination For Months Without Telling Public







The Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) top Midwest official knew about the Flint, Michigan drinking water crisis of 2015 months before telling the public, according to a Tuesday report by the The Detroit News.

EPA official Susan Hedman did not publicize the EPA’s concern over Flint’s water quality or the water’s dangerous health concerns. The federal agency instead quietly fought with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality for at least six months about what should be done.

EPA water expert, Miguel Del Toral, identified potential contamination problems with Flint’s drinking water last February and confirmed the suspicions in April. He authored an internal memo about the problem in June, according to documents obtained by Virginia Tech.

Meanwhile, Hedman became aware of the contamination issue in April. She sought legal advice, but didn’t receive the guidance until November 2014. The American Civil Liberties Union accused Hedman in October of attempting to keep Miguel Del Toral’s memo in-house, downplaying its significance.


http://dailycaller.com/2016/01/14/epa-knew-about-michigan-water-contamination-for-months-without-telling-the-public/

Flint Residents Told That Their Children Could Be Taken Away If They Don’t Pay For City’s Poison Water





As the water crisis in Flint deepens, it is becoming apparent that the effects of the lead-infested water are not just a health hazard, but the situation has the potential of ruining many more lives outside of the poison issue. There is no denying that the water in Flint is undrinkable and that it is contaminated with lead and other substances, and it is clear that the government of Flint is responsible for the problem.

However, the city’s government continues to charge people for the poison water and then threatening to foreclose their home or take their children if they refuse to pay. Michigan law states that parents are neglectful if they do not have running water in their home, and if they chose not to pay for water they can’t drink anyway, then they could be guilty of child endangerment. Activists in Flint say that some residents have already received similar threats from the government if they refuse to pay their bills.

Flint residents have recently filed two class action lawsuits calling for all water bills since April of 2014 to be considered null and void because of the fact that the water was poisonous.

“We are seeking for the court to declare that all the bills that have been issued for usage of water invalid because the water has not been fit for its intended purpose,” said Trachelle Young, one of the attorneys bringing the lawsuit, in court.

“Essentially, the residents have been getting billed for water that they cannot use. Because of that, we do not feel that is a fair way to treat the residents,” Young added.

Recent estimates have indicated that it could take up to 15 years and over $60 million to fix the problem, and the residents will be essentially forced to live there until the problem is solved. Despite the fact that the issue is obviously the government’s responsibility, they have made it illegal for people to sell their homes because of the fact that they are known to carry contaminated water. Meanwhile, residents are still left to purchase bottled water on their own, in addition to paying their water bill.

 

Although this problem is finally getting national media attention in Flint, they aren’t the only city with contaminated water supplies. In fact, a recent report published by The Guardian showed that public water supplies across the country were experiencing similar issues.

This crisis highlights the many dangers of allowing the government to maintain a monopoly on the water supply and calls attention to the fact that decentralized solutions to water distribution should be a goal that we start working towards.


http://www.dcclothesline.com/2016/01/25/flint-residents-told-that-their-children-could-be-taken-away-if-they-dont-pay-for-citys-poison-water/#more-56285