Incident Analysis Example Gold King Mine Disaster
In August 2015, workers in an abandoned mine in Silverton, Colorado dumped three
million gallons of contaminated wastewater into the Animas River. On August 5,
workers with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency were attempting to replace
the drainage system in the mine to allow for safe release of excess water that had
built up behind a plug. Misjudging the level of water in the mine, workers dug
though and the mine ruptured, releasing pressurized water and washing away the
service road. The bright orange contaminated water flowed from the Animas River
into the San Juan River and eventually into the Colorado River and the Grand
Canyon. Farmers, business, and residents were advised to not use the water for
cooking, drinking, or irrigation, as it contained heavy metals like lead, cadmium and
other toxins like arsenic, beryllium, and copper (Wikipedia).
When I did my incident analysis report on this case it had just happened so the first
place I turned for resources is Google News. Specifically, I looked for national and
regional news articles about the incident to get a sense of what happened and who
was involved and to look for local news articles and primary sources. Moving from
broad (national and regional newspapers) to narrow (local newspapers, blogs, social
media) allowed me to get more details that arent important to a national or
regional audience. After I found more specific and focused secondary sources, I
abandoned the original national and regional newspapers as they had become less
useful.
While reading these newspaper articles helped me better understand my topic, it
also pointed me to other sources (often referenced in the articles themselves) that
provided me with invaluable new information. I kept a Microsoft Word document
with a list of these references as I read so I stayed organized and didnt get
overwhelmed with information. Eventually this list included government reports,
warning and alerts from the EPA, a technical evaluation of the accident, and a
website by a local activist group that began collecting their own data. These
technical documents provided some insight into what actually happened, but
because I did my research less than a month after the actual incident the full
reports had not been released, as the incident was still being investigated.
Once I had this information, I did another round of Google searches using key terms
found in other sources (e.g., Animas River, Gold King Mine, mine blowout, Gold King
Mine EPA, Animas River Stakeholders Group, Gold King Bureau of Reclamation, etc.),
which led me to social media and blog posts, videos, websites, and other sources
that I had to then evaluate to determine how credible or interesting they were. I
found a ton of information, but chose only a handful to reference as I felt they
provided the most unique perspectives or gave me information that I had not found
anywhere else. This information helped me include perspectives and opinions that
were not in mainstream newspapers or the official documents released by the
government.
Finally, once I had around ten sources or so I began sifting through them to identify
the most important people, organizations, and groups (i.e., stakeholders), key
events/dates/locations, and important information that could form the basis of my
argument (e.g., the EPA knew about the risks, other mines have had similar
accidents, this area has a long history of environmental accidents, the Animas River
is home to many indigenous peoples and tribes, etc.). This information took the
longest time for me to find and would not be available had I not started broad and
then progressively focused, moving away from national and regional news article
and towards focused sources like local newspaper, blogs, and social media posts
made by people who live and work in the area.
Secondary Sources Documents created about incident by stakeholders not
directly involved
Animas River: EPAs Colorado mine disaster plume flows west toward Grand
Canyon, by Bruce Finley, The Denver Post
Gold King Mine: EPA was told of blowout danger in June 2014, by Jesse Paul,
The Denver Post
When our river turned orange, by Jonathan Thompson, High Country News
Animas River Stakeholders Group: An Unlikely Alliance for Watershed Health
in the San Juans, by Samantha Wright, Your Water Colorado Blog
Primary Sources Documents created by stakeholders directly involved in
the incident
Emergency Response page from the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPAs) web page devoted to the Gold King Mine Incident
EPAs Summary Report: EPA Internal Review of the August 5, 2015 Gold King
Mine Blowout
The Bureau of Reclamations Technical Evaluation of the Gold King Mine
Incident (read the Executive Summary, Introduction, and Findings):
Website of the Animas River Stakeholder Group, an organization comprised of
mining companies, environmental organizations, land owners, local
governmental entities, and state and federal regulatory and land
management agencies
