Navajo Nation sues EPA over metal sludge from Colorado mine spill

The Navajo Nation sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday, one year after 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater spilled into three states from an abandoned Colorado gold mine. In a court filing, the Navajo tribe alleged the EPA and other parties "recklessly" burrowed into the Gold King Mine in 2015, releasing waste into water upstream from the tribe's land. A year later, the waterways remain contaminated and the Navajo people have yet to be compensated, according to the complaint that also names EPA contractor Environmental Restoration, the Kinross Gold Corp and Sunnyside Gold Corp. "One of the Navajo people's most important sources of water for life and livelihood was poisoned with some of the worst contaminants known to man, including lead and arsenic," Navajo Nation said in the 48-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of New Mexico.