Breaking News
Silverton CO: (8/12/15): A toxic waste water spill last week near Silverton CO has caused alarm for visitors to water areas feeding the Grand Canyon, as well as tour operators providing Grand Canyon tours and river rafting excursions. The spill was caused by the Environmental Protection Agency near Silverton late last week, and is inching its way towards Lake Powell. The southern tip of the lake is an entry point to the Grand Canyon. Many businesses that provide tours of the Grand Canyon like Bindlestiff Tours (located 300 miles from the Grand Canyon in Las Vegas) are concerned as to the impact the spill might have on their businesses. “Although the rafting guides are more directly impacted, everyone in the business of touring the Grand Canyon is concerned,” a Bindlestiff Tours representative stated today. “Thousands of tourists venture into the Grand Canyon each year using the services of tour guide companies like ours, we want the experience to not be spoiled in any way.”
Many towns, farmers and tribes in Colorado and New Mexico have made the hard decision to close intake valves and declare states of emergency, however many experts in Nevada believe the heavy metals in the waste will be diluted by the time they reach the Grand Canyon and Lake Mead. The impact on the water drinking and recreation systems is being referred to as minimal, but the illustration by spills like this one as well as others which have occurred in the area over the past few years highlights that serious precautions must be taken around any tributary to the water supplies for the West Coast. “The risk of contamination is minimal,” said Corey Enus, spokesman for the Southern Nevada Water Authority, however the example of the yellow colored water currently in the area displays just how fragile the systems are. “The 3 million gallons in the spill are dwarfed by the 4 trillion gallons of water held in Lake Powell,” said Rusty Harris-Bishop, a spokesman for the EPA. “I can’t imagine that we are going to detect anything once it gets there.”
While this is true and environmental impact of this spill will probably be undetectable by the time the water hits the Grand Canyon, environmentalists still have concerns as to the sediment that is left behind after the heavy metals settle in the river. “This does not go away,” a Bindlestiff Tours representative stated. “It is there forever, and every time something like this happens we are just getting closer and closer to a major disaster for the environment, tourism to National Parks, and our drinking water. We can’t afford that.”