WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) released the following statement after the Department of Interior announced its report confirming that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) could have prevented the Gold King Mine disaster.

“Literally and figuratively, the EPA blew it. The government’s own report directly refutes the EPA’s claim that a toxic spill that caused 3 million gallons of toxic wastewater from the Gold King Mine to poison rivers in three states was ‘likely inevitable.’ Responsibility for this disaster lands directly on the EPA’s doorstep. I want to know who at the EPA will be held accountable for this disaster.”

Senator Barrasso, as chairman of the Committee on Indian Affairs, held a hearing on the Gold King Mine disaster with EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on September 16, 2015.

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