The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking the dismissal of several claims against it regarding the 2015 Gold King Mine spill.
The spill occurred when a contractor for the EPA breached a portal at the mine, sending millions of gallons of mineral-laced wastewater into the Animas and San Juan rivers. The state of New Mexico and the Navajo Nation filed separate lawsuits against the EPA, but the Farmington Daily-Times reports the EPA recently filed a motion to dismiss those claims. The agency says it was not directly responsible for the spill and it is protected by sovereign immunity.
