Originally published August 13 2015
Geologist predicted EPA would intentionally pollute Animas River to secure federal funding
by J. D. Heyes
(NaturalNews) A July 30 letter to the editor of a local newspaper from a retired geologist appears to have predicted the Environmental Protection Agency's disastrous chemical spill into a major Colorado River tributary that happened just days later.
As noted in earlier reports, tons of toxic water tainted with lead, arsenic and heavy metals poured into the Animas River when a contractor working for the EPA inadvertently breached a dam at the Gold King Mine.
Following the breach, the contaminated water spread downstream into New Mexico, Arizona and Utah, and is approaching Southern California. Initially, the EPA said only about 1 million gallons of contaminated water – which turned the river yellow-orange – flowed into the river, but later the agency was forced to admit that the amount was closer to 3 million gallons.
In any event, days before the incident, retired geologist Dave Taylor wrote to the editors of the Silverton Standard & the Miner newspaper that he believed there would be an intentional breach with ulterior motives behind it.
Planned 'accident'?
"Based on my 47 years of experience as a professional geologist," Taylor wrote, "it appears to me that the EPA is setting your town and the area up for a possible Superfund blitzkrieg."
Superfund is, according to the EPA's website,
the name given to the environmental program established to address abandoned hazardous waste sites. It is also the name of the fund established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act of 1980, as amended.... It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel responsible parties to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups.
Taylor references a June meeting between the newspaper's editors and a representative from the EPA, who reportedly told them "we don't have an agenda" – meaning the agency – a statement which Taylor described as "either ignorant naivety or an outright falsehood."
He went on to lay out "the scenario that will occur based on my experience," in which he says that, after the plugging of the breached dam, exfiltrating water will be retained behind the ramparts, "accumulating at a rate of approximately 500 gallons per minute."
In the long run, he believes the "grand experiment" of essentially putting a cork back in the bottle will "fail." Then, he believes, the EPA will come back and say that, since its plan failed, "we will have to build a treatment plant at a cost to taxpayers" of hundreds of millions of dollars.
"Reading between the lines, I believe that has been the EPA's plan all along," Taylor continued. The proposed plugging plan, he says, was EPA's way of getting its foot in the door "to justify their hidden agenda for construction of a treatment plant.
Silence is deafening
"After all," he continued, "with a budget of $8.2 billion and 17,000 employees, the EPA needs new, big projects to feed and justify their existence."
As noted further by Natural News editor Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, whatever the motivation of the EPA, environmentalists are currently engaged in a double standard.
"If this kind of behavior were exhibited by an oil company, environmentalists would be screaming for the arrest and imprisonment of the CEO," he wrote in a recent article. "But somehow when the government becomes America's worst polluter, the lies and cover-ups are all quietly excused, it seems."
As further noted by The Washington Times, though the Gold King Mine spill is not on the same level as the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. President Obama was quick to criticize the oil giant, famously saying he was looking for someone's "ass to kick" while prompting Ken Salazar, then the Interior secretary, to keep his "boot on the neck" of BP.
No one really expects that anyone at EPA will be fined or lose their job, however. After all, when government causes these sorts of disasters, they are "accidents," but when it happens to a private corporation – especially one as "politically incorrect" as Big Oil – then it's "incompetence" that must be resolved through fines and other punitive action.
Meanwhile, Obama's continued silence on his EPA's mistake is deafening.
Sources:
http://www.zerohedge.com
http://www.washingtontimes.com
http://www.epa.gov
http://www.naturalnews.com
All content posted on this site is commentary or opinion and is protected under Free Speech. Truth Publishing LLC takes sole responsibility for all content. Truth Publishing sells no hard products and earns no money from the recommendation of products. NaturalNews.com is presented for educational and commentary purposes only and should not be construed as professional advice from any licensed practitioner. Truth Publishing assumes no responsibility for the use or misuse of this material. For the full terms of usage of this material, visit www.NaturalNews.com/terms.shtml