New Mexico Official: EPA Kept Water Data Secret After Spill

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Federal regulators refused to share water-quality data for weeks following a blowout of toxic wastewater from a Colorado mine that fouled rivers across the Southwest, a New Mexico official said Thursday.
The move by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aimed to downplay the severity of the spill, hobbling the state’s response, said Ryan Flynn, New Mexico secretary of Environment and Natural Resources.
His criticisms, which came in statements prepared for de