The Senate Committee on Indian Affairs says it will “demand answers” from the EPA on April 22 at a field hearing in Phoenix.
Committee members want to know why more hasn’t been done to address last summer’s massive Gold King Mine spill that contaminated a river that Navajo farmers rely on.
The Navajo farming community of Shiprock just this week decided to open the irrigation canal to the San Juan River, even though independent toxicologists have recently found traces of harmful metals remaining in the water.
Last August, the EPA was checking on an abandoned gold mine in Colorado, when it accidentally breached a dirt dam and released 3 million gallons of yellow toxic waste into the Animas and San Juan rivers. The EPA has since declared the entire mining district near Silverton a priority for cleanup.
MORE: Long Before Flint: After Animas River Spill, No Water For Navajo Farmers
