In full damage control, the EPA has accepted responsibility for the massive three-million-gallon spill of waste water from an abandoned mine into the Animas River.
The spillage has since contaminated source water that feeds into southern Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and the Navajo Nation, who is now filing suit against the agency.
In the aftermath, finger pointing has already begun for what some reports indicate are as many as half a million similarly abandoned mines across the west that could threaten further contamination if not cleaned.
The ironic twist, according to the NY Times, is that a bill authored by Representative Nick Rahall (R-WV) in 2007 would have created a royalty system similar to what exists for the oil and gas industry that would fund the clean up and remediation of mines.
When the bill made it over to the Senate, it was promptly killed by Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), whose state relies heavily on the mining business. That move has now come back to bite the Democrat administration and its aggressive EPA agenda for clean air and water.
