This sentence of yr kayaks and internal tube crowd the lechatelierite - percipient waters of the Animas River , which flows through the western Colorado urban center of Durango . Last night , the river was quickly give up as one million gallons of wastewater seeping from a local mine slowly trickled downstream , eventually coloring the entire river an eerie electric orange .
The wastewater wasaccidentally spilledby the Environmental Protection Agency as they attempted cleanup work on Gold King Mine , upstream from Durango . The long - abandoned mine had a collapsed entrance which had been bang to release contaminate body of water into a nearby brook , so a crew of worker was instal a pipe to divert the flow . As they dug a hole they realized the effluent level in the mine was higher than they thought . A rampart of yellow - orange sludge—1,200 gallons per minute — began flowing downstream .
As a ribbon of orange made its mode into town yesterday afternoon , the river was closed to amateur purpose and the city of Durango hold back its intake of water for public expenditure . The city ’s drinking water timber is not at peril , however , since the river is only a secondary source .
The orangish colour was make not only by the extremely acidic pee but also the mien of with child metals like iron , aluminum , atomic number 48 , atomic number 30 , and pig , an EPA workertold the Durango Herald . The dramatic shade made for some stunning and chilling images of a river turn toxic .
Animas River closed to public due to waste from Silverton mine.https://t.co/OnattqvkFFpic.twitter.com/NZAqvEKkEi
— Durango Herald ( @DurangoHerald)August 6 , 2015
contaminate mine pee hits Durango : http://t.co/1LxbAyG6EYpic.twitter.com / wHEw1wlyIW
— Denver7 News ( @DenverChannel)August 7 , 2015
Durango residents devastated when foul orange soup in Animas River rolled into town at sunsethttp://t.co/tB7JDWCpdkpic.twitter.com/79qWyraNOY
— The Denver Post ( @denverpost)August 7 , 2015
Right now on the#AnimasRiverin#Durango . presently monitoring Pisces in the river – some results may be known today.pic.twitter.com/tHk876ldLg
— Colorado Parks and Wildlife ( @COParksWildlife)August 7 , 2015
Testing will begin today to see how fish and other wildlife has been impress , with a mobile research laboratory arrive on - site to determine the chemical make-up of the spill to decide how to handle it . But really the only fix is clip : Officials say that the purification of the river will happen by nature as some of the larger solids settle and fresh water system flows from upstream .
learn out thebefore and after shots of the riverto see just how much study there is to do .
[ Durango Herald ]
ColoradoRivers
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