An official website of the United States government.

This is not the current EPA website. To navigate to the current EPA website, please go to www.epa.gov. This website is historical material reflecting the EPA website as it existed on January 19, 2021. This website is no longer updated and links to external websites and some internal pages may not work. More information »

Gold King Mine Data, August 14, 2015

Data from Gold King Mine Response

The EPA sediment samples collected in the Animas River from Bakers Bridge to north of Durango have been validated. EPA has done a review of the data which included a comparison to background to determine if the metal concentrations are consistent with pre-incident levels.

Metal results that exceeded pre-event levels were subsequently compared to risk-based screening levels. No results exceeded recreational screening levels.

However, comparison to risk-based screening values found these exceedances to below risk screening levels. The review and interpretation of these data was a collaborative effort that included state and local members of the unified command. 

Top of Page