EPA denies pressuring Navajos into waiving rights to future payments in river disaster

EPA administrator Gina McCarthy moved to mend fences Thursday with Navajo Nation as the agency denied accusations that it tried to force Indians to waive their rights to future claims stemming from the Gold King Mine blowout. In a statement Thursday, the EPA described as “inaccurate” comments by Navajo President Russell Begaye, who told The Washington Times and other press this week that EPA workers were going door to door on his reservation asking residents to sign claim forms appearing to waive future rights for payments now. Mr. Begaye called it “underhanded” and posted a copy of the claim form online, but EPA officials insist it isn’t true. “EPA is not offering immediate reimbursements for damages from the Gold King Mine water and it is not true that if someone submits a claim that by doing so they limit or waive future rights,” the agency said. The EPA also said those who face damages from the Aug. 5 accident at the abandoned Colorado mine, which sent 3 million gallons of bright orange wastewater down the Animas River, have two years to file claims under federal law. Ms. McCarthy met with top Navajo officials for a private gathering Thursday on the reservation’s New Mexico side, then toured the San Juan River contamination site and the incident command center in Farmington, N.M...more