On August 5, 2015, a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) work crew digging into the Gold King Mine (GKM) Level 7 adit near Gladstone, Colorado, triggered a blowout and on going discharge of impounded mine water. The EPA reported that more than 3 million gallons of acidic mine water containing sediment, heavy metals, and other chemicals discharged into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River, and into New Mexico where the Animas River joins the San Juan River before flowing into the Navajo Nation and Utah. EPA also estimated that more than 400,000 Kg of metals entered the Animas River as a result of the GKM discharge. Metals are accumulated and stored in streambed sediments during low flow, and these metals can be released into the water column in both dissolved and suspended phases during periods of high flow. A consortium of state, tribal, county, municipal and federal agencies, whose logos appear on the first page of this document above, are working together to put the following actions and contingencies into place.
