He also praised the EPA for apologizing for the spill. Perhaps praise should come after the EPA actually does something to clean up the mess that was created, not before. In the same story, he talks about corn chips, the beer industry and beer taps in the Colorado governor’s mansion.

My hope is that Hickenlooper will focus his efforts on a long-haul, comprehensive cleanup effort to the Animas for all of us in this state, instead of continually downplaying the severity of this incident and using it to promote economic agendas. I also hope that rather than praising the EPA, he instead will use his influence to press the agency to continually monitor water and soil quality damaged by the spill, as well as monitor the EPA’s rate of response in the cleanup. After all, public health and safety outweigh economic agendas every day of the week.

Dennis O’Brien

Durango