Pollution of the Animas River was going on for over 100 years before gold and silver mining died down near Silverton, Colorado in the 1990s. So the recent 3 million gallon spill isn’t the first time the Animas River has been contaminated with mine waste.
KUNM’s Elaine Baumgartel talked with High Country News Senior Editor Jonathan Thompson who explained that gold and silver mining near Silverton Colorado began in the 1870s – and then, so did the pollution of the river.
See before and after photos of the recent spill into an Animas River tributary near Silverton, Colorado from the Durango Herald here.