Back in August when folks were screaming that the EPA spill in the Animas River had polluted the waters with all sorts of nasty metals, the federal agency assured us no harm was done, nothing to see here, nothing bad got into the river, no need to speed up payments for damages.

But now that the feds are desperate to designate Silverton as a Superfund Site, they decided to quietly distribute a study on Friday to local officials showing quite the opposite.

DENVER – A 3 million-gallon spill from the Gold King Mine above Silverton last year may have dumped more than 880,000 pounds of metals into the Animas River, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reported.

The report didn’t identify the metals but said researchers were looking at cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel and zinc. Tests done after the spill also found arsenic in the wastewater.

The EPA released the study during a private meeting with all of the local, state and tribal officials in which the public was not permitted to attend.

The Durango Herald busted them for this gross violation of the state sunshine law, in which they discussed public safety behind closed doors, but the feds refused to budge.

Also on Friday, right on cue, Gov. Hickenlooper met with local officials and announced they will work round the clock to make sure they meet the deadline to create the new Superfund site.

How freaking convenient.

And folks wonder why we don’t trust the EPA.