EPA: Metals Get Into Creek Near Site Of Big Mine Waste Spill

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says some metals escaped into a Colorado creek from a wastewater treatment plant after heavy rains near the site of a big mine waste spill last year.

The EPA hasn't identified the metals or quantities that were released in the incident Tuesday near the Gold King Mine.

The agency said Thursday the metals had been at least partially treated when they were released and would settle out of the creek quickly. Officials say the problem was corrected in about two hours.

An EPA-led crew inadvertently triggered a 3-million-gallon spill at the mine in August 2015, tainting rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. The treatment plant was installed to clean up water still flowing from the mine while a long-term solution is sought.

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