EPA: Mine Spill Dumped 880,000 Pounds Of Metals In Rivers

DENVER (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency says millions of gallons of wastewater that gushed from a Colorado gold mine last year may have sent more than 880,000 pounds of metals into a river.

A preliminary report released Friday says the spill flowed into the Animas River and most of the metals settled into the riverbed. It says some of them reached the San Juan River, which the Animas joins in New Mexico.

Utah officials have said some contaminants reached their state, but the report doesn't address that.

PHOTO GALLERY: Gold King Mine Tour

The study did not identify the metals but said researchers were looking at cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, zinc and possibly others.

An EPA-led cleanup crew inadvertently triggered the 3 million-gallon spill on Aug. 5 at the inactive Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado.

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