What Is a Health Risk?

Households near the rivers that use wells are also at risk of contamination, officials have said. The E.P.A. continues to test water along the plume’s path. The agency has not said whether the spill presents a health risk to humans and animals.

The spill, which continues to gush out of the abandoned Gold King Mine in southwest Colorado, turned the Animas River orange. The spill has “caused levels of arsenic, lead and other metals to spike in the Animas River.” The spill has led the government to ban people from drinking, fishing, or basically going anywhere near the Animas River. But is it a health risk? The EPA cannot say.

Photo by Sara