Scientists working to understand record of mine-related contamination in sediment below Lake Powell
The Durango Herald’s 2015 photograph was instantly recognized as a scene of environmental disaster: three kayakers paddling down the Animas River in southwest Colorado, the water below them as orange and radiant as a Creamsicle. A containment pond near Silverton, Colo., had been accidentally breached at the Gold King Mine and 3 million gallons of metal-laden sludge were released into the Animas, flowing downstream into the San Juan River.