DENVER Unlike BP which was fined $5.5 billion for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster the EPA will pay nothing in fines for unleashing the Animas River spill.
Sovereign immunity. The government doesnt fine itself" said Thomas L. Sansonetti former assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments division of environment and natural resources.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and other lawmakers have called on the EPA to hold itself to the same standards as it would a private company in the aftermath of Wednesdays accident in which an EPA-led crew uncorked a 3 million-gallon spill of orange wastewater from the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton Colorado.
However The EPA does not fine itself the way that you would fine an outside company like BP" said Mr. Sansonetti who served from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush.
What the EPA can be expected to cover is the cost of the cleanup and compensation for the damage caused funding that would have to be appropriated by Congress meaning that the taxpayers will foot the bill.
Thats going to have to be appropriated because that sort of thing is not included in the EPAs budget" said Mr. Sansonetti now a Denver attorney.
As for compensation he said Its similar to the BP situation because youve got rafting companies that couldnt raft youve got kayakers that couldnt kayak youve got ranchers that didnt want spoiled water being drunk by their cows."
So far there have been no estimates as to the cost of the disaster. The orange plume borne by the Animas River has since spread to New Mexico via the San Juan River and is now heading to Utah.
Valerie Richardson covers politics and the West from Denver. She can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
DENVER Unlike BP which was fined $5.5 billion for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster the EPA will pay nothing in fines for unleashing the Animas River spill.
Sovereign immunity. The government doesnt fine itself" said Thomas L. Sansonetti former assistant attorney general for the Justice Departments division of environment and natural resources.
New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez and other lawmakers have called on the EPA to hold itself to the same standards as it would a private company in the aftermath of Wednesdays accident in which an EPA-led crew uncorked a 3 million-gallon spill of orange wastewater from the abandoned Gold King Mine near Silverton Colorado.
However The EPA does not fine itself the way that you would fine an outside company like BP" said Mr. Sansonetti who served from 2001 to 2005 under President George W. Bush.
What the EPA can be expected to cover is the cost of the cleanup and compensation for the damage caused funding that would have to be appropriated by Congress meaning that the taxpayers will foot the bill.
Thats going to have to be appropriated because that sort of thing is not included in the EPAs budget" said Mr. Sansonetti now a Denver attorney.
As for compensation he said Its similar to the BP situation because youve got rafting companies that couldnt raft youve got kayakers that couldnt kayak youve got ranchers that didnt want spoiled water being drunk by their cows."
So far there have been no estimates as to the cost of the disaster. The orange plume borne by the Animas River has since spread to New Mexico via the San Juan River and is now heading to Utah.
Valerie Richardson covers politics and the West from Denver. She can be reached at vrichardson@washingtontimes.com.
