Colorado mine owner seeks US compensation over 2015 spill

The owner of an inactive Colorado mine that was the source of a 2015 spill that fouled rivers in three Western states has sued the U.S. government

DURANGO, Colo. -- The owner of an inactive southwestern Colorado mine that was the source of a disastrous 2015 spill that fouled rivers in three Western states has sued the U.S. government, seeking nearly $3.8 million in compensation for using his land in its cleanup. Todd Hennis claims the Environmental Protection Agency has occupied part of his property near the Gold King Mine but hasn't compensated him for doing so since the August 2015 spill, The Durango Herald reported. He also contends that the EPA contaminated his land by causing the spill, which sent a bright-yellow plume of arsenic, lead and other heavy metals into rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah. In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, Hennis argued that the EPA's actions have violated his Fifth Amendment rights to just compensation for public use of private property. The EPA didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment Friday.