A sixth investigation into the Gold King Mine spill reveals that the EPA doesn’t actually have any rules in place or safety standards to work around old mines.

This is according to the EPA’s inspector general, as reported by the AP.

We are at a loss as to how an agency charged with Suprefund cleanups does not have rules or safety standards to do the work themselves around old mines, but who are we to question the IG?

Perhaps it’s because the EPA is not in the business of hiring mining engineers? That they are charged with clean water and air, and not mining reclamation?

Just so you know we are not making this up:

DENVER (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had no rules for working around old mines when the agency inadvertently triggered a massive spill from a Colorado mine that polluted rivers in three states, government investigators said Monday.

The agency started work on safety standards after the spill and expects to finish them Friday, investigators from the EPA’s Office of Inspector General said.

In other news, the U.S. attorney’s office in Denver has not charged anyone with a crime in the spill, despite the EPA’s admittance that it handed over evidence that an EPA employee may have violated the Clean Water Act, the AP also reported.

We grow weary of demanding that the federal government be held accountable for the mess it created.

But still, we will hopefully suggest that with the two year anniversary of the spill approaching, someone will freaking do something!