The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $465,000 to the Navajo Nation to monitor the ecology of the San Juan River. As Arizona Public Radio’s Ryan Heinsius reports, scientists are still trying to understand the possible long-term effects of last summer’s Gold King Mine spill.
The grant will help the Navajo EPA study contaminant levels in fish. The tribe wants to determine if consuming animals caught from the San Juan River poses a threat to human health. They’ll also use the federal funds to conduct further sediment sampling.
“The San Juan is the lifeblood for so many people in the states and on this tribal land,” says Alexis Strauss, acting regional administrator for the U.S. EPA. “If we can paint a whole picture of watershed health along this part of the San Juan, it helps everybody to plan for how best to use water.”
Officials estimate 3 million gallons of toxic waste spilled into the Animas and San Juan rivers. It forced communities on the Navajo Nation to go without water for agriculture and drinking.
Subsequent tests showed contaminants in the rivers returned to pre-spill levels shortly after the incident. Federal and tribal agencies, however, will continue long-term studies.
