A calamity occurred this month in southwest Colorado. It was precipitated by contractors working for the Environmental Protection Agency.

EPA was trying to clean up pollutants at a long-retired Colorado gold mine and in the process released highly contaminated waste water, three million gallons of it, into the Animas River. The toxic sludge, colored bright yellow, has since traveled through portions of Colorado and is headed into New Mexico where it joins the San Juan River, then through Utah and on to the Colorado River in Arizona.