Mining company agrees to pay Colorado $1.6 million in Gold King Mine spill settlement – By Jesse Paul (Colorado Sun) / December 13, 2021
When bulkheads were installed in the American Tunnel, the amount of heavy metal laden water from the higher up Gold King Mine began to increase, according to a federal investigation.
A mining company has agreed to pay the state of Colorado $1.6 million to settle claims related to the 2015 blowout of the Gold King Mine near Silverton, which sent millions of gallons of orange-yellow water laden with heavy metals cascading down the Animas River and into New Mexico and Utah.
The settlement with Sunnyside Gold Corp. resolves the company’s liability “for damaged natural resources,” according to the Colorado Attorney General’s Office. The deal was announced Monday.
Sunnyside doesn’t own the Gold King mine. But it does own the nearby Sunnyside Mine, which is just below the Gold King. The company operated the Sunnyside Mine from 1986 until 1991, when the mine closed. The Sunnyside Mine was a major employer in Silverton.
When bulkheads were installed in the American Tunnel, the main access portal to the Sunnyside Mine, the amount of water polluted with heavy metals flowing from the higher up Gold King Mine began to increase, according to a federal investigation.
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