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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — The Latest on news that Utah regulators say the EPA failed to inform them about contaminants in river water after a massive mine spill that fouled water in three states (all times local):
4:05 p.m.
Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes says he plans to take legal action against the Environmental Protection Agency following reports it didn't alert the state to river contamination after a 3 million-gallon mine waste spill.
Reyes said Friday that he will file a notice of claim, the first step toward a lawsuit, though he didn't set a deadline for the action.
Utah regulators say the EPA didn't share water quality tests showing elevated metal levels in San Juan River after the Aug. 5 spill that started in Colorado and spread across three states. The data was posted online, but wasn't sent to Utah.
While there isn't a current threat to public health, the state will resume its own tests of the water.
An EPA spokeswoman says they're looking into Utah's concerns.
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1:45 p.m.
Utah regulators say the Environmental Protection Agency didn't share data showing elevated levels of metals in the San Juan River after a massive mine waste spill that contaminated rivers in three Western states last year.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality officials said Friday they're concerned that agency didn't alert them about water sample tests results from September and October. The data was posted online, but Utah officials say they discovered it on their own months later.
Utah authorities say they're investigating whether the metals came directly from the spill that may have dumped more than 880,000 pounds of metals into Colorado's Animas River.
While there isn't a current threat drinking water, agriculture or recreation, the state will resume testing the water in southern Utah.
An EPA spokeswoman says they're looking into the state's concerns.
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