Albuquerque, NM (KKOB) — On August 24th at 7 a.m. 18,900 gallons of raw sewage leaked into the Animas River. While the city of Aztec responded by 8:30 a.m., they didn’t notify downstream water users of potential contaminants until more than 6 hours later. Questions continue to arise about the more than six-hour delay in notification, as well as whether that delay could have led to negative ramifications from the time lapse. On Sept. 7th, 2015, the EPA’s Gold King Mine Stakeholders Alert Notification Plan was adopted, and it stated that downstream users to Durango, which includes approximately 30 miles of the Animas River, should be notified within one hour of the event.
