From The Denver Post:  New Mexico on Thursday announced plans to sue the EPA, Colorado and owners of inactive mines after the agency-triggered Gold King disaster that worsened contamination of the Animas River through three states.

Lead levels in municipal water supplies continue to spike after storms, New Mexico’s chief environmental official, Ryan Flynn, said after filing notices of intent to sue. That’s one of many longterm effects of the Aug. 5 blowout at the Gold King Mine, above Silverton in southwestern Colorado, which unleased a 3 million-gallon deluge of acid, heavy metals-laden runoff, Flynn said.

He accused EPA officials of shirking their duties for meaningful support and collaboration. “We have no choice but to turn to the justice system to hold EPA accountable to New Mexicans.”

And when New Mexico asked Colorado natural resources officials to provide information, invoking the Freedom of Information Act, the state received a bill for nearly $20,000 without the information, he said.

“We’d just like to get a long-term monitoring plan in place and get some information so that we are able to monitor and analyze the effects,” said Flynn, a cabinet secretary who runs the New Mexico Environment Department, in an interview.

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