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By Zoë Schlanger
Senior Writer
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Within days of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's accidental release of 3 million gallons of mining wastewater into the Animas River in Colorado, portions of the Internet frothed over with conspiracy theories that the EPA spill may not have been an accident. Now, that line of thinking has found its way to the Utah legislature. And with a nod from the state's attorney general, it's gained a sliver of official traction.
Two members of the Utah legislature last week speculated in an official briefing that the EPA might have caused the disaster on purpose, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. The reason for the spill, hypothesized Republican State Senator Margaret Dayton, was the agency's desire to secure Superfund designation for the Gold King mine, something that the residents in the area, concerned over the impact on tourism, adamantly resisted. (Never mind that EPA agreed earlier this year to a mitigation plan for the hard rock mines, like Gold King mine, that perpetually leaked pollution in the area. The plan would be federally funded, like a Superfund project, but it would sidestep official Superfund designation.) Representative Mike Noel, also a Republican, meanwhile suggested that the EPA may have caused the spill to help environmentalists put an end to the hard rock mining industry, according to the paper. Both asked the Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes for an investigation. He said he'd look into it, the Tribune reported.
Reached for comment Monday, Reyes said he hasn't seen any compelling evidence to say the spill wasn't an accident—yet.
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"At this early stage we have not seen any evidence of intentional conduct by the EPA, but we do know the agency was aware in 2014 of the massive buildup of toxic wastewater and the potential for a dangerous blowout and release," Reyes said, referring to a recent Associated Press report that the EPA knew there was a risk of a blowout at the mine site prior to the spill.
Noel, meanwhile, who sits on the the Utah legislature's Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee, says she would "absolutely" abolish the EPA if given a chance, and is sure there is a larger anti-mining agenda at work.
"The EPA is on the top of the list for government departments that we do not support and don't get along with. They've used their influence and regulations to stop a large amount of projects in rural Utah. We have very very little respect for the EPA, especially under [EPA Commissioner] Gina McCarthy. She comes from a very, very radical background," he said on the phone Tuesday. Noel represents the two counties in Utah, San Juan County and Kane County, affected by the spill. "I see this, quote, 'accident,' as—I'm not sure if they consciously did it, I just said I want to see an investigation. Why did they breach the barrier? It sure seems to me that when you're dealing with those chemicals from gold mining you'd be very very careful. I don't put anything past the EPA. I've seen the way they use their regulating powers to shut down projects, harm mining, harm farmers."
Noel added that he thinks the EPA's goal is to ruin the mining industry.
"I think everything the EPA does is an attempt to smear mining. Especially under Gina McCarthy. I think everything has to do with that. There is definitely a total bias against mining," Noel said, adding that the U.S. should be producing more of its own coal and minerals, not less. "We're 100 percent dependent on Red China. These are strategic minerals we need in our supply. We're shutting down our coal mines, they're building one a month. It's kind of an upside-down world for me."
"I'm not crazy. I'm skeptical of the government," he said.
Dayton, who also sits on the Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Environmental Quality Appropriations Subcommittee, wrote in an email Monday that she is concerned that the EPA "may have had an accidental/on-purpose spill so as to qualify for Superfund cleanup funds."
"I am not at liberty to share all the information being gathered," she wrote, but linked to a letter to the editor published in the Silverton Standard & the Miner, a local newspaper, written a week before the spill by a retired geologist, that appears to predict that the EPA's work at the Gold King Mine could wind up releasing toxic waste water. In addition, the letter (currently being shared on a number of conservative and Tea Party websites) alleged that if it did, it would be "EPA's plan all along"—a "Superfund blitzkrieg" to justify the agency's "hidden agenda" for the construction of a water-treatment plant.
But Utah State Senator David P. Hinkins, who chairs the subcommittee on which both Noel and Dayton sit, says that this is all nonsense. "I don't think anyone would do something like that. That's the farthest thing from my mind personally. It's human error," he said, and added that he hasn't heard other lawmakers speculating otherwise.
The EPA, meanwhile, issued a blunt response.
"In terms of audacity, this ridiculous conspiracy claim ranks next to the moon landing and the president's birth certificate both being fake," Press Secretary Melissa Harrison said in a statement. "EPA will take responsibility to ensure it is cleaned up."
The U.S. Interior Department is conducting an investigation into the spill. The results are expected to be released publicly within two months, according to the AP.
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