Utah seeking $1.9 billion from EPA over mine-waste spill
Utah is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for $1.9 billion in damages after the EPA inadvertently triggered a multi-state spill from an old gold mine in Colorado, the Utah Attorney General’s Office confirmed Tuesday.
The state filed the claim in February but never publicly announced it, said Dan Burton, a spokesman for the attorney general. Word of the claim first surfaced Friday when the EPA made a passing reference to it in a news release.
It is by far the largest known claim stemming from the August 2015 spill from the inactive Gold King Mine in southwestern Colorado, and it brings the total to at least $2.3 billion.
The Navajo Nation filed a claim for $162 million and the state of New Mexico sought $130 million.