SALT LAKE CITY – As the investigation into the Gold King Mine spill continues, Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes will file notice of claim against the federal government for its role in the disaster.
Recently, the Utah Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) discovered that water sample results taken by the Environmental Protection Agency in late 2015 after the spill showed elevated levels of metals. The results had not previously been shared with the state of Utah. Reyes said:
From the beginning we have evaluated Utah’s legal options to ensure the EPA lives up to its promise to be fully accountable and transparent – and to make our citizens and environment whole. After the spill, we waited to take legal action because in good faith we hoped that cooperation with the EPA could bring more rapid reimbursement and remediation. Perhaps there is a still a chance for that to happen, but Utah needs to be in a position to file a lawsuit if the federal government is not more responsive and transparent. The discovery that the EPA did not share relevant information is a cause for serious concern and could lead to additional claims after we have fully investigated that omission.
The action will put all parties on notice that Utah intends to sue the federal government under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Clean Water Act and begins the litigation process.
“It’s critical that we ensure that the EPA, and any other potentially liable entities, are held legally responsible,” Reyes said, “not just for short term effects but for damage that may not be known or understood for years to come.”
Upon notice of the disaster, a team of lawyers from the Office of the Utah Attorney General lent support to the vitally important actions of its clients including the state’s departments of Environmental Quality and Public Safety – and their divisions of Water Quality and Emergency Management. These agencies began immediate monitoring of impacts to Utah’s waters and evaluating short and long-term health, environmental and recreational impacts to Utah citizens and tribal nations along the San Juan River.
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