08.17.16

Ranking Member Grijalva: EPA Should Make Navajo Community Whole in Resolving Gold King Mine Spill Cleanup

Washington, D.C. – Ranking Member Raúl M. Grijalva today said the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) first responsibility in resolving the newly announced Navajo Nation lawsuit over the 2015 Gold King Mine spill in Colorado must be to make the Navajo community whole and mitigate financial risk to Navajo tribal members. Grijalva urged EPA officials to consider a settlement as the best and fastest way to protect the interests of the Navajo Nation and the agency itself.

Grijalva last year introduced a bill to overhaul the abandoned mine cleanup process across the United States. Despite Republican claims of concern about the impacts of the Gold King spill, the House majority has taken no action on Grijalva’s bill, formally titled the Hardrock Mining Reform and Reclamation Act.

“Dragging this process out for several years will not help the EPA or the Navajo Nation,” Grijalva said. “Any crop not being planted and any water source not being restored to full potential is a missed opportunity. The longer this takes, the more animosity will build, and that’s an outcome we should all work together to avoid.”

Grijalva said he hopes the Agency will work closely with Navajo Nation officials to resolve the outstanding financial and legal issues. Taking an adversarial legal position will only increase public pressure and support for the Tribe, he said.

“The EPA is not the only agency responsible for what happened at Gold King, but that’s no reason to freeze out the Navajo Nation or ignore its legitimate claims,” Grijalva said.

Grijalva pointed out that mining companies pay no royalties for hardrock minerals they take from publicly owned federal land – a class that includes gold, copper, silver and many other valuable metals. Some mining interests have previously indicated a willingness to pay fair royalties, a process Grijalva’s bill would establish for the first time.

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