voices from the animas project
VOices from the animas project reflection
The Interview
One of the first and most interesting questions I asked my interviewee, Dustin Mangus, was “What was your first reaction to the spill from the Gold King Mine?” He explained that he has lived in Durango for only a year now, previously living in Ignacio, Colorado, but he was out of town in Alaska when the spill had happened and hadn't heard anything about the spill until he returned to Durango a few weeks after the spill. His friends and family where very quick to blame the EPA, and he found it “ironic” that an organization dedicated to protecting the environment caused such a massive spill. I thought it was interesting that with all of the national news coverage that the river spill got, he didn't hear anything about it until he came back to Durango. I was also out of town in St. Louis when the spill happened, but I saw new sources such as CNN giving it almost daily coverage. I thought it was interesting that after the interview was done with, it felt like we both knew each other a lot better than before, even though the conversation we had was only ten minutes long and was restricted to topics regarding the Animas River Spill.
Habits of Mind
I think whenever an environmental disaster such as the Animas River Spill, it’s more important to think about the future implications rather than the present. The spill into the Animas River released roughly three million gallons of contained water, raising the levels of lead in the water about twelve thousand times higher than the normal level. The spill didn't only affect Silverton and Durango either, nearby town such as Farmington New Mexico have had their primary source of water tainted with the heavy metals all the way from the Gold King Mine. Declaring Silverton as a Superfund site would effectively clean up the river back to normal, safe levels for the near future, as well as conducting a plan to clean up other 500,000 mines in the United States in similar conditions as the Gold King Mine.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/us/animas-river-spill-by-the-numbers/
Habits of Mind
Abandoned mines contaminating rivers is not a new subject in the United States. The EPA estimates that about 40% of mines are leaking contaminates in just the Western United States, with about 230 of those mines located in Colorado alone. The Gold King Mine had closed in 1923 and is thought to have been leaking toxins into the Animas River ever since. Outdated laws from 1872 don't hold owners of these abandoned mines that are leaking toxins accountable for cleaning up the messes that mining creates. The only way to have the owners of these mines clean up the mess would require the modernization of these outdated laws and an abundance of cooperation from the owners. Seeking alternative short term solutions for cleaning up these abandoned mines, while seeking a modernization of outdated laws regarding mining would be the best solution economically and environmentally.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/27/why-the-epa-is-not-tackling-all-the-toxic-mining-pools-in-the-us.html
Habits of Heart
This project has helped me grow as a learner in many ways, but it has most helped me develop and change my perspective when new evidence is presented to me. Initially, after hearing the locals in Silverton say how they were opposed to Silverton being declared a Superfund site, I took their side because I thought that because they're locals, they would know what is best for cleaning up The Gold King mine. After hearing other perspectives as well as doing my own research on the environmental and economic effects of the spill, my own perspective changed and started to differ from the residents of Silverton. Through discussing different solutions with my peers during seminar, I found that there are a lot of people that agree with me and think that the Superfund is the only solution that takes all perspectives into account. The perspectives of most residents in Silverton seems like they are only thinking about themselves when in reality, there are many towns like Durango that are being effected just as much, if not more than Silverton.
One of the first and most interesting questions I asked my interviewee, Dustin Mangus, was “What was your first reaction to the spill from the Gold King Mine?” He explained that he has lived in Durango for only a year now, previously living in Ignacio, Colorado, but he was out of town in Alaska when the spill had happened and hadn't heard anything about the spill until he returned to Durango a few weeks after the spill. His friends and family where very quick to blame the EPA, and he found it “ironic” that an organization dedicated to protecting the environment caused such a massive spill. I thought it was interesting that with all of the national news coverage that the river spill got, he didn't hear anything about it until he came back to Durango. I was also out of town in St. Louis when the spill happened, but I saw new sources such as CNN giving it almost daily coverage. I thought it was interesting that after the interview was done with, it felt like we both knew each other a lot better than before, even though the conversation we had was only ten minutes long and was restricted to topics regarding the Animas River Spill.
Habits of Mind
I think whenever an environmental disaster such as the Animas River Spill, it’s more important to think about the future implications rather than the present. The spill into the Animas River released roughly three million gallons of contained water, raising the levels of lead in the water about twelve thousand times higher than the normal level. The spill didn't only affect Silverton and Durango either, nearby town such as Farmington New Mexico have had their primary source of water tainted with the heavy metals all the way from the Gold King Mine. Declaring Silverton as a Superfund site would effectively clean up the river back to normal, safe levels for the near future, as well as conducting a plan to clean up other 500,000 mines in the United States in similar conditions as the Gold King Mine.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/13/us/animas-river-spill-by-the-numbers/
Habits of Mind
Abandoned mines contaminating rivers is not a new subject in the United States. The EPA estimates that about 40% of mines are leaking contaminates in just the Western United States, with about 230 of those mines located in Colorado alone. The Gold King Mine had closed in 1923 and is thought to have been leaking toxins into the Animas River ever since. Outdated laws from 1872 don't hold owners of these abandoned mines that are leaking toxins accountable for cleaning up the messes that mining creates. The only way to have the owners of these mines clean up the mess would require the modernization of these outdated laws and an abundance of cooperation from the owners. Seeking alternative short term solutions for cleaning up these abandoned mines, while seeking a modernization of outdated laws regarding mining would be the best solution economically and environmentally.
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/08/27/why-the-epa-is-not-tackling-all-the-toxic-mining-pools-in-the-us.html
Habits of Heart
This project has helped me grow as a learner in many ways, but it has most helped me develop and change my perspective when new evidence is presented to me. Initially, after hearing the locals in Silverton say how they were opposed to Silverton being declared a Superfund site, I took their side because I thought that because they're locals, they would know what is best for cleaning up The Gold King mine. After hearing other perspectives as well as doing my own research on the environmental and economic effects of the spill, my own perspective changed and started to differ from the residents of Silverton. Through discussing different solutions with my peers during seminar, I found that there are a lot of people that agree with me and think that the Superfund is the only solution that takes all perspectives into account. The perspectives of most residents in Silverton seems like they are only thinking about themselves when in reality, there are many towns like Durango that are being effected just as much, if not more than Silverton.