Written by Michael Booth
inally published by The Colorado Sun; republished here by permission.
Benzene from a 23,000-gallon gasoline spill is apparently creeping toward the Animas River, as Southern Ute tribal leaders say cleanup work by the state and the pipeline owner is moving too slowly. Federal authorities have now warned they are watchdogging the progress.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said Thursday the pipeline spill is the sixth-largest it has handled in recent history, and Southern Ute environmental officials said some private wells were flooded by 12 feet of gasoline atop drinking water. The spill started Dec. 5 amid a checkerboard of private and tribal land inside the boundary of the Southern Ute Reservation, headquartered 20 miles away in Ignacio.
Read more: Wells fouled by gasoline might never be useable again | Colorado Sun
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