Why am I not surprised - from Albuquerque New Mexico station KOAT:
Navajo Nation seizes EPA tanks after spill, claims water is unsafe
Navajo Nation police have seized water tanks delivered to the Shiprock community in the wake of a devastating Colorado mine spill.
An Environmental Protection Agency-supervised crew accidentally unleashed an estimated 3 million gallons of waste two weeks ago from the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton, Colorado. The waste, which consisted of high levels of toxic metals, floated out of the mine and into the Animas River, then traveled south into the San Juan River.
Many Navajo farmers and cattle ranchers use the San Juan for crops and livestock. The Navajo Nation has yet to lift water restrictions on the river, so the EPA has been delivering water to communities and storing them in large tanks.
However, President Russell Begaye believes that some of the water that the Navajo Nation is getting is not up to snuff.
Several reports have surfaced from farmers saying that the tank water is oily.
Begaye and other Navajo Nation leaders visited one of the tanks in Shiprock on Wednesday. A photo of Begaye holding a cup of water from the tank and with a black hand was taken and has spread across the Internet.
"I reached my hand into the tank and felt my hand getting oily," Begaye said. "There are these black beads in the water, and when you rub them, black streaks go down your hands."
From station KOB (also in Albuquerque):
Navajo president, Shiprock leaders incensed at dirty crop, livestock water delivered by EPA contractor
A contractor for the Environmental Protection Agency delivered nine large tanks of water to the Navajo Nation Friday, promising fresh, clean water. But the Navajo Nation, already skeptical of the EPA's response to the Gold King mine spill, say the tanks are dirty oilfield tanks and are now even further incensed.
The water in the tanks – intended for crops and livestock – is brown and smells, and the tank it came in is far from clean.
"The EPA told us that these tanks hold only clean water for drinking," said Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye. "Clearly it is just a lie. Clearly, it is an oil tank. That's what it is."
Disgusting.
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