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Animas River Opens, San Juan River Remains Closed
Laurel Morales
The San Juan River is closed since the EPA accidentally released mine waste into the southwest waterway.
The Animas River is now open. It’s been more than a week since an EPA crew accidentally released toxic waste from an abandoned mine into the waterway on Aug. 5. Downstream New Mexico and Navajo officials are holding off on opening the San Juan River.
Initial EPA test results show conditions of the San Juan River returning to what they were before last week’s spill. But the nonprofit Water Defense has found heavy metals including vanadium, titanium and barium in its samples.
Scott Smith is chief technology officer for Water Defense. He’s traveled to more than 60 oil spill and contamination events to give communities the technology that helps identify what’s in the water.
He came to the Navajo Nation this week to show people how to test the water and to take samples. He said the EPA measures a split-second grab of water, while Water Defense tests for longer periods.
"It’s like if you have a video camera over your house for 12 hours you’re going to see that burglar going in that front door," Smith said. "Now if you take three still pictures over a 12-hour period, most likely you’re not going to identify the burglar. Same thing for this contamination."
Smith said his tests use a material that attracts things like oil and metals. Both the EPA and Water Defense said more tests need to be done, especially of the riverbed sediment.
