The site of the Gold King Mine spill in Colorado. Photo from Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye / Facebook
The House Natural Resources Committee is holding another hearing into the Gold King Mine disaster. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is the only witness at Wednesday's hearing. It was called to address the role of the Interior Department in the August spill that sent millions of gallons of mine waste into rivers that flow through the reservations of the Navajo Nation and the Southern Ute Tribe. The department was not responsible for the disaster at the abandoned mine site in Colorado, which was under the control of the Environmental Protection Agency. But the hearing memo drafted by the Republican majority staff accuses Interior of failing to conduct a thorough review of the incident. At the request of EPA, DOI assessed the spill in a report that was released in October. "The incident at Gold King Mine is somewhat emblematic of the current state of practice in abandoned mine remediation," the report stated. The hearing takes place at 10am in Room 1324 of the Longworth House Office Building. Committee Notice:
Oversight Hearing on the Department of the Interior’s Role in the EPA’s Animas Spill (December 9, 2015) Prior Committee Hearing Notices:
House Committee on Science, Space and Technology: Holding EPA Accountable for Polluting Western Waters (September 9, 2015)
Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: Oversight of the Cause, Response, and Impacts of EPA’s Gold King Mine Disaster (September 16, 2015)
Senate Indian Affairs Committee: Oversight Hearing on "EPA's Gold King Mine Disaster: Examining the Harmful Impacts to Indian Country" (September 16, 2015)
House Natural Resources Committee and House Oversight Committee: Joint Oversight Hearing on “EPA’s Animas Spill" (September 17, 2015)
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