Animas pix

Folks in the Four Corners region were furious with the feds at a Durango public meeting last night, calling the Animas River spill a “terrorist act” and demanding that the EPA officials who caused the disaster be held accountable. And by accountable, they meant fired, fined and criminally charged, not allowing the polluters to retire with full benefits.

The purpose of the hearing wasn’t so much informational, as there was very little of that, but an EPA sales pitch to designate Silverton as a Superfund cleanup.

Irony alert: The good folks of Silverton have battled the EPA for decades to block a Superfund takeover.

We hope everyone can appreciate the threat posed by these mines, EPA Region 8 Administrator Shaun McGrath had the gall to tell the seething crowd.

McGrath continued to spew some mealy-mouthed, half-assed apology for causing the spill and destruction that now threatens to reach the Grand Canyon. But if it hadn’t been for Peak Politics’ revelation on Thursday that the spill was actually caused by the EPA, the feds might have gotten off the hook for creating this disaster.

Environmental groups are being quiet as church mice since the government-caused disaster, waiting for their Democratic overlords to perfect and instruct on the necessary spin and talking points.

Here’s our suggestion: “The Environmental Pollution Agency, we’re from the government, and we’re here to terrorize you.”

We remember what happened back in the 90s when the Eagle Mine Superfund cleanup released a cascade of orange waste down the Eagle River, and the Tang powder that was created by the snow machines on Vail Mountain.

Our state and federal politicians are rightly concerned with the immediate cleanup of this mess, but they better get their ducks in a row, fast, to block even more EPA buffoonery and horseplay if Superfund — that most dreaded clusterpuck on the EPA’s to-muck-up list — is imposed on the helpless masses.

U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton and U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner are already on the ball demanding accountability, while Gov. Hickenlooper is holed up in a bunker somewhere issuing weak-kneed tweets.

It’s been five days since the spill began dumping nearly a million gallons of waste a day into our water. We expect Hick will eventually get around to declaring this a state emergency, and handing the feds a check from Colorado taxpayers to clean up the mess.

UPDATE: Hickenlooper is reportedly preparing a state of emergency declaration and heading to Durango Tuesday.

 

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