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EPA report says no serious health risk from Southwest Colorado mines

Durango, Colo. • The Environmental Protection Agency says contamination from nearly 50 mining sites in southwestern Colorado doesn’t pose a serious risk for human health.

The Durango Herald reports that the Bonita Peak Mining District Superfund site assessment released Thursday didn't find any risks to people working or hiking, hunting or fishing there. However, it found a risk of exposure to lead or arsenic for children at four camping sites along the Animas River and at three mine sites used as recreational staging areas.

Most of those sites are set to be worked on starting this summer.

The agency designated the Superfund site after it inadvertently triggered a spill at the Gold King Mine in August 2015. The spill released 3 million gallons of wastewater, polluting rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.

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By The Associated Press