New Mexico’s U.S. Senators Lay Out Plans For Mining Reform

January 15, 2016 – New Mexico officials announced this week that the state plans to sue the federal government for the Gold King Mine spill last fall.

The Associated Press reports that the New Mexico Environment Department will sue both the Environmental Protection Agency and the owners of the Colorado mines that were the source of the toxis spill in the Animas River.

This is the latest action in the ongoing response to the spill, which resulted in the loss of access to the river for weeks in some communities on the Navajo Nation.

In late 2015, we sat down with Senator Marthin Heinrich and Senatoar Tom Udall to discuss the impact of the Gold King Mine Spill and their proposals to reform oversight of abandoned mines in Western states. This week, we feature both interviews on New Mexico in Focus.