Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye is ready to lay into the Environmental Protection Agency for causing a toxic spill that he says has ruined the livelihoods of many of his nation’s farmers and creating a “culture of distrust” between his people and the Obama administration.
The EPA admitted that it caused the Aug. 5 spill at the abandoned Gold King Mine in Colorado, releasing three million gallons of toxic sludge into the Animas River in Colorado, which later flowed into the waterways that Begaye’s people rely upon for farming.
Begaye, who will testify before Congress over the next two days on EPA’s response to the spill, recounted his ordeal in dealing with the agency in an interview with the Washington Examiner.
He said the agency’s primary motivation in responding to the nation’s pleas for assistance was to prepare for litigation that EPA officials knew would be coming.
“They call us right before testimony occurs, being nice to us,” Begaye said. “To me what EPA is doing now is … preparing to defend themselves in court. That’s what they’re doing. It’s very clear.”
He said the Navajo Nation has been asking for cleanup assistance, but the EPA has “pulled out” from aiding farmers along the banks of the San Juan River in New Mexico.
He said their requests to the Federal Emergency Management Administration for help have been denied. “But EPA, in our conversations with FEMA, they said ‘we are the lead agency, we are taking care of it, everything is OK, we’ll handle it, so back off.'”
“That’s just wrong,” Begaye says. “All it is, is EPA defending itself, getting ready to go to court.”
Begaye said the EPA knew from the beginning that it would have to be settled in court due to its gross negligence in causing the spill.
The decision to sue EPA became clear, he said, “especially [after] I got a report that they knew about it. That they knew this was about to happen, [but] they did nothing.”
“We are going after EPA. They are going to pay for it,” he said, recalling what he told a tribal committee after learning that the agency was clearly at fault. “We are going to make them pay.”
He said most of the EPA’s dealings with the Navajo have been at arm’s length. And most of the on-the-ground assistance it did provide farmers was withdrawn without explanation, which he says EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy refutes in conversations he has had with her in recent days.
Other requests for removing toxic deposits from river sediment have gone unanswered, even though he says farmers up river from him, outside of the nation, have been assisted in removing their sediment.
The EPA had told him the week after the spill that it would take decades to clean up the heavy metals that were left behind. Begaye said his people distrust EPA and worry that without proper remediation their crops could be permanently damaged.
“The culture of distrust is just there, and [EPA] did it, they developed it,” he said. “I was really enthused when EPA said it was clearing up, and we’ll be out of this in no time.” But “one million gallons turned to three million, now it’s up close to 30 million gallons has come down” from the mine.
The nation has kept river water from being used at its farm and for livestock, even though the EPA gave the all clear.
He said as early as Monday, “there was an alert that EPA put out that there was more contaminants going into the river.”
Begaye is testifying before the Senate Indian Affairs Committee Wednesday. On Thursday, he will testify before the special joint committee session in the House between the natural resources and government oversight committees.
“First, we need to get justice done. That’s what we’re looking for,” Begaye says. EPA “knew the spill was going to happen, you didn’t do anything about it, you were negligent, and [the spill] happened. And now after a month, you’re saying everything is back to normal, and we’re walking. It’s just not right.”
“So, we’re asking Congress to come alongside us and help us, [and] make sure they just don’t go away,” he said.
EPA spokeswoman Liz Purchia issued a statement refuting many of Begaye’s claims, saying the agency’s “focus is the public health of all people affected by this tragic event. Senior agency staff have been talking with Navajo Nation leaders and meeting with tribes within the Navajo Nation, and are working hard to address their concerns and meet their needs.”
She also said the EPA hasn’t approved sediment removal on any part of the river, and that contaminant levels are at acceptable levels. She also said EPA is working with the Nation on reimbursement payments, as well as livestock screening to test for any possible harm to livestock and crops.
The Republican chairman of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee, John Barrasso of Wyoming, said tribes use the water and the hearing will get a first-hand account on how the spill is affecting them.
“The EPA needs to work to ensure the mess is cleaned up, the sovereignty of the tribes is respected, and that the concerns of the tribes are acted on,” he said.
