From left: Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Gina McCarthy and Navajo Nation Vice President Jonathan Nez, examine conditions on the San Juan River following the Gold King Mine disaster. Photo from Facebook

The Senate Indian Affairs Committee has postponed a field hearing that was due to take place in Arizona next week.

The committee still plans to look into the Environmental Protection Agency and its "unacceptable" dealings with tribes. But a new date for the hearing, which was to take place in Phoenix on February 19, has not been announced.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy came under fire at a hearing last September after the Navajo Nation and the Southern Ute Tribe complained that the agency was slow to respond to their concerns following the Gold King Mine disaster in Colorado. A spill at the abandoned site sent millions of gallons of chemicals into rivers that flow through both reservations..

Republican members of the committee also have accused the EPA of hindering coal development in Indian Country.

Committee Notice:
POSTPONED: Field Hearing - "Examining EPA's Unacceptable Response to Indian Tribes" (February 19, 2016)

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