“Environmental
Pollution Agency”
On Wednesday
last week, 3 million gallons of toxic water from an abandoned mine called the
Gold King, spilled into the Animas River in Colorado. It is unsaid on how long,
but the Gold King has been releasing 50 to 250 gallons every minute. The Environmental
agency had been trying to block the leak when a bulge of the water came out and
flooded the river with the toxic water. The blame goes to the Sunnyside Gold Corporation
as they built walls from another nearby mine. Those retention walls busted and
went into the Gold King and then continued into the Animas River. Many people
were affected by this spill as the river is a very popular spot. A couple of
nearby towns who use water from the river stopped pumping and had to pump from
a backup source. A river rafting company is frustrated because they cannot operate
and their workers are not able to work. No current solutions have been
developed by the Environmental Agency but they could start by building a better
retention wall to prevent future spills. I personally think that an event like
this should be cleaned up as fast as they can before many other people and
towns downstream are affected.
Possible Solutions
ReplyDeleteSolutions to this problem should focus on the wellbeing of the people and environment. Like you said, many nearby towns were effected by the spill. We should get as much help as we can to help the people who live in the towns have a safe source of water. We should also get a team to track down injured and sick animals that were effected by the leak and provide them care. I believe that the most important thing to do in this situation is to make sure everyone and everything is safe. The river rafting company can get over not being able to operate. There are more important things to worry about like the wellbeing of the animals around them. The Sunnyside Gold Corporation should have to pay for the help needed. It was their faulty walls that caused the accident in the first place. I agree with your idea of building a better retention wall to prevent future spills."
I agree with your solution of building better walls to prevent these kinds of catastrophes from occuring. But the effects on people and animals are at large and can be very damaging to the people that use the river. They could get diseases from drinking the water from the river( at least they have a backup source to help them with this problem). The animals in the river could also be harmed by the chemicals that this mine spill has released. They could get diseases, kill off the population of the species, etc. Also, there is a chance that the river connects to a larger body of water, which would spell catastrophe for the whole city or town.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your solution of building better walls to prevent these kinds of catastrophes from occuring. But the effects on people and animals are at large and can be very damaging to the people that use the river. They could get diseases from drinking the water from the river( at least they have a backup source to help them with this problem). The animals in the river could also be harmed by the chemicals that this mine spill has released. They could get diseases, kill off the population of the species, etc. Also, there is a chance that the river connects to a larger body of water, which would spell catastrophe for the whole city or town.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nathan’s proposal- this situation should be cleaned up as fast as possible to minimize the ecological effects. I feel that the issues with situations like this lay in the fundamental restrictions put in place by the Environmental Agency. Even after a mine is no longer being utilized, the Environmental Agency should have a twenty to fifty year plan that the business has to fulfill that neutralizes all environmentally hazardous substances. Moreover, I feel that the Gold King Mining organization should be held accountable for their lack of action in this situation. The United States government should place certain repercussions on this group, seriously limiting their access to more mining land and increasing the supervision on their sites. Companies should understand the importance of keeping the environment clean and should have to answer to a superior organization. I think Nathan was on the right track with retention walls, and I feel that each wall should have specific federally regulated dimensions that are known to be safe. This is a horrific event and the national government should make sure that nothing like this ever happens again.
ReplyDelete