Three years after an accidental spill from a Colorado gold mine, scientists are getting the chance to thoroughly analyze its impact on Lake Powell.
They’re looking for traces of toxic metals in wastewater accidentally released by the Colorado Gold King Mine in 2015.
It is the first study of its kind to take research levels of arsenic, cadmium, copper, mercury and lead in the San Juan River watershed at the base of Lake Powell — a chief water supply for 40 million people here in the Southwest.
It follows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s accidental release of 3 million gallons of wastewater from the Gold King Mine, estimated to have leaked more than 500 tons of toxic metals into the Colorado River.
Preliminary findings on the study are expected in 2020.
