Salton Sea cleanup in jeopardy as states battle over Colorado River water
A sign in Spanish at a gas station on Hwy. 9 near Colorado City warns customers that they are approaching a toxic waste site after a toxic waste site contaminated the water supply for over 500 households.
Jared Anderson | The Denver Post
A sign in Spanish at a gas station on Hwy. 9 near Colorado City warns customers that they are approaching a toxic waste site after a toxic waste site contaminated the water supply for over 500 households.
A toxic waste site contaminated the water supply for over 500 families in central Colorado after a gas leak spewed chemicals into a water treatment plant in the small northern Colorado town of Teller County, state officials said Wednesday.
Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment released its first-ever analysis of water quality in the Teller Basin, a major source of drinking water for the city of Pueblo. The analysis found traces of the volatile chemicals brominated flame retardants in the water supply of more than 500 individual households. This was a result of a 2010 gas leak that contaminated the Teller Basin water system, the Health Department said.
“The water supply became contaminated from a gas leak in 2010, but it took years for the community to recognize and respond,” said Health Department spokesperson Stephanie Fryer in an email. “The fact that water is contaminated is evidence that the process for protecting against toxins can be flawed.”
Pueblo and Teller County officials had previously said the spill was contained within the Teller Basin before it spread to the wider community, where families drink water from the Colorado River, and more than 500 homes and businesses rely on contaminated drinking water.
“It is extremely concerning that this chemical, which is not naturally present in this groundwater system can be found outside of the area impacted by this gas leak,” said Pueblo County spokeswoman Cindy Aronoff.
The Health Department and Pueblo officials said the contamination could not be directly linked to the gas leak and that the chemical was likely in the Teller Basin through human or animal exposure.
“The gas leak is suspected of being part of a larger source of contamination in the Teller Basin, but is not the only source,” said Health
