Communicating Science about the Gold King Mine Spill and Water Quality in the Animas River
How have geological, biological and human factors created an exacerbated acid mine drainage and water quality issues for the Animas River?
What ecological and human health threats might be associated the Gold King Mine Spill: initially, currently and in the future?
What actions can be taken to improve the water quality in Cement Creek and the Animas River watershed?
What is the role of science in making policy decisions?
What ecological and human health threats might be associated the Gold King Mine Spill: initially, currently and in the future?
What actions can be taken to improve the water quality in Cement Creek and the Animas River watershed?
What is the role of science in making policy decisions?
Reflection
Project Reflection
By Reed Frey
I think scientists have a large degree of obligation to share their findings with the public. My reasoning for this is because of an obvious point about the Animas River spill is that the public needs to know if the river is safe enough for drinking, agriculture, and recreation uses. In many cases of natural occurrences like algae plumes it could be harmless or very toxic which needs to be addressed to the public by those who know how to do so. I feel like scientists have an obligation to release data to the public if it is in the case of addressing a harmful threat. If the threat is addressed it may be able to save lives or keep people healthy and safe. Just by looking at the Animas River as it turned orange it made me never want to go close to it or drink from it ever again. From data released to the public that we had assessed in class I now know that it was for the most part harmless but if I had been exposed to what was in the water for a very long period of time it could cause some unhealthy effects.
From the beginning of the year to where I stand now with my scientific knowledge I feel like I have advanced greatly throughout the semester. From analysing data to performing experiments I feel like the amount of content we have covered so far has been a huge leep from what I thought I knew at the beginning of the year. Even though I have felt very challenged in class about the subject we were learning I always felt like I transitioned into the next topic always having a solid understanding of the previous. From the amount of content we have covered I know I have learned so much about the mathematics and science that go into chemistry.
From the amount of data we have gone through in class there has been many ecological and human threats that have been connected to the spill. From the Gold King Mine spill the initial plume really didn’t do much ecological damage to the creeks that were just under the mine in Silverton, but downstream there was a lot more ecological impact. As the plume made its way down the river the only threat to the environment was to the farmers that relied on the river to water their crops. This is because the toxic metals that are in the water would cause unhealthy effects to wildlife and humans only if they were exposed for a very very long period of time. If the spill had been larger and continued to come out of the mine at a large amount then the health risks would be much larger. Currently the effects are very minimal, our water quality standards for recreation, wildlife, and drinking are very stable and plume has dispersed throughout its journey downriver. In the future there could be more effects because we still don’t know how much acid mine drainage is still left and it could be building up for another spill. The threats in the future from the initial spill is not too bad because the dissolved metals that were in the plume has dispersed making safe to drink and to swim in. There is still sediment which could be kicked up when there is rush of water but it would not be enough to cross any of our water quality standards.
Although hundreds of mines continue to leak into the watersheds above silverton there are a few ways to improve the water quality. The water could go through a treatment process of a larger scale using lime to treat the water and separate the dissolved metals out of the water making it safer to drink and swim in. EPA workers could also try bulk-heading all of the mines which would stop acid mine drainage from coming out but would risk a very very large spill.
By Reed Frey
I think scientists have a large degree of obligation to share their findings with the public. My reasoning for this is because of an obvious point about the Animas River spill is that the public needs to know if the river is safe enough for drinking, agriculture, and recreation uses. In many cases of natural occurrences like algae plumes it could be harmless or very toxic which needs to be addressed to the public by those who know how to do so. I feel like scientists have an obligation to release data to the public if it is in the case of addressing a harmful threat. If the threat is addressed it may be able to save lives or keep people healthy and safe. Just by looking at the Animas River as it turned orange it made me never want to go close to it or drink from it ever again. From data released to the public that we had assessed in class I now know that it was for the most part harmless but if I had been exposed to what was in the water for a very long period of time it could cause some unhealthy effects.
From the beginning of the year to where I stand now with my scientific knowledge I feel like I have advanced greatly throughout the semester. From analysing data to performing experiments I feel like the amount of content we have covered so far has been a huge leep from what I thought I knew at the beginning of the year. Even though I have felt very challenged in class about the subject we were learning I always felt like I transitioned into the next topic always having a solid understanding of the previous. From the amount of content we have covered I know I have learned so much about the mathematics and science that go into chemistry.
From the amount of data we have gone through in class there has been many ecological and human threats that have been connected to the spill. From the Gold King Mine spill the initial plume really didn’t do much ecological damage to the creeks that were just under the mine in Silverton, but downstream there was a lot more ecological impact. As the plume made its way down the river the only threat to the environment was to the farmers that relied on the river to water their crops. This is because the toxic metals that are in the water would cause unhealthy effects to wildlife and humans only if they were exposed for a very very long period of time. If the spill had been larger and continued to come out of the mine at a large amount then the health risks would be much larger. Currently the effects are very minimal, our water quality standards for recreation, wildlife, and drinking are very stable and plume has dispersed throughout its journey downriver. In the future there could be more effects because we still don’t know how much acid mine drainage is still left and it could be building up for another spill. The threats in the future from the initial spill is not too bad because the dissolved metals that were in the plume has dispersed making safe to drink and to swim in. There is still sediment which could be kicked up when there is rush of water but it would not be enough to cross any of our water quality standards.
Although hundreds of mines continue to leak into the watersheds above silverton there are a few ways to improve the water quality. The water could go through a treatment process of a larger scale using lime to treat the water and separate the dissolved metals out of the water making it safer to drink and swim in. EPA workers could also try bulk-heading all of the mines which would stop acid mine drainage from coming out but would risk a very very large spill.
If you would like to look at some of my peers work the link to the right will direct you to the StoryCorps website. You will have to click the browse button and enter Voices from the Animas!
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The picture below is my second part of the project which was a fun and creative way of visualizing the ICP-MS machine in a very very simple manner.