Utah AG official warns abandoned mines could cause spills similar to Gold King Mine

An official with the Utah Attorney General’s office warned that abandoned mine workings in Utah can accumulate acidic, metal‑laden water and pose the risk of a sudden release similar to the 2015 Gold King Mine blowout.

"Water can seep into these mines and create acid mine drainage which is really what created the problem in Colorado," Craig Anderson said during a recorded interview. He noted that many abandoned sites have no current owner or operator and that water held behind bulkheads in Colorado adits may be substantial.

Anderson said EPA is evaluating Utah sites that share characteristics with the Colorado mining districts and has agreed to perform removal‑site evaluations in locations including Milledee Fork and Cardiff Forks, Big and Little Cottonwood Canyon, the Ophir Mining District and uranium‑mining sites in Lisbon Valley. Those evaluations aim to identify risks and inform potential protective measures.

The official cautioned that while monitoring and sampling continue, uncertainty remains about how much water may be held behind physical structures in some mine adits. "There really is no, at this point, no knowledge about how much water may be held behind those physical structures," Anderson said.

He emphasized that the state hopes mitigation work will reduce the chance of a repeat release in the future. For now, Anderson said, ongoing water‑quality testing at sampling stations has not detected exposure levels that would pose an immediate public‑health problem.

The settlement tied to the Gold King Mine litigation also includes a reopener clause allowing Utah to return to negotiations if future determinations show remaining problems that were not addressed by the agreement.

— Craig Anderson, director, Environment and Health divisions, Utah Attorney General’s office; quoted from a recorded interview on the podcast 'Legally Speaking.'