EPA Research Partner Support Story: Gold King Mine Spill local waterways/sediment sampling
Partners: New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), New Mexico Tech, University of Iowa, and Ohio State University
Challenge: Environmental sampling and assessment of local waterways and sediments following Gold King Mine Spill
Resource: Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research
Project Period: 2015 – 2021
In 2015, about 3 million gallons of contaminated wastewater from the Gold King Mine spilled into the Animas River impacting several tribes and states. Following the spill, a team of researchers from the University of New Mexico Center for Native Environmental Health Equity Research and New Mexico Tech, in collaboration with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), performed a sampling trip collecting water and sediment samples from Silverton, CO to Farmington, NM. The results obtained from this work were presented at the Environmental Conditions of the Animas and San Juan Watersheds conference (Farmington, NM; May 17-18, 2016) which was co-organized by their collaborator from NMED and other staff from the New Mexico Water Resources Institute and institutions from the state of New Mexico.
"ORD's support of the Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research has helped NMED reach out to and coordinate with Navajo Nation communities that were affected by the Gold King Mine spill.” – NMED Chief Scientist Dennis McQuillan
As a result of this work, the Center, in collaboration with NMED, the University of Iowa, and The Ohio State University, initiated an investigation of the mineral phases and metal release by microbiological activity from sediments collected along the Animas River after the spill which impacted the Navajo Nation. Additionally, NMED has utilized the information generated by the Center to propose a long-term monitoring program that has been partially funded by EPA.
- Post Gold King Mine Spill Investigation of Metal Stability in Water and Sediments of the Animas River Watershed (published 2016, research with NIH funding)
- Gold King Mine Water Spill Long-Term Monitoring Plan (published 2017)
The EPA ORD-supported Center for Native American Environmental Health Equity Research, jointly funded by EPA (2016-2021) and NIH, was established to address pervasive environmental health disparities. The Center’s work continues with funding from NIH, and the primary focus is biomedical and environmental research and Native-focused community engagement. The research team aims to expand their understanding of mixed-metal toxicity and enhance confidence in the characteristics of the metal exposures and the populations that influence the generalizability of the results.