The natural world. Looking pretty for 3.5b years.

Toxic Dumping

Author: Hugh Bollinger/Friday, August 7, 2015/Categories: photography, sustainability, environment

Toxic waste dumps, often associated with old gold and silver mining sites, are supposed to be cleaned-up under the EPA's Brownfields program . The dumps were originally designed to hold spent mining waste which contains lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and other heavy metals .Heavy metals are association with various human health matters including cancers, learning disorders, and nervous system development. They are also deadly to fish and wildlife associated with any waterway, particularly in the arid West.

The goal of the impoundments was to prevent the toxic waste from polluting any water souses. An old dump, in southwestern Colorado, has just failed while being examined for "brownfield" classification and released its toxic contents into the Animas River , a tributary of the Colorado River. It isn't a pretty site,

Animas River Contamination, Western Colorado. (credit: KOB-TV )

It's unclear who will clean up and entire river system once the polluted water hits the Colorado.

WHB

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Tags: water pollution EPA toxic waste mine tailings brownfields toxic waste clean-up