EPA pays $1.2 million more in local costs from mine spill

DENVER (AP) -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says it will pay another $1.2 million to tribes, states and local governments affected by a massive mine waste spill in southwestern Colorado.

The agency made the announcement Friday, the anniversary of the blowout at the Gold King Mine, which was accidentally triggered by an EPA-led crew.

The 2015 spill tainted rivers in Colorado, New Mexico and Utah with heavy metals. Three Indian reservations in Colorado and New Mexico were also affected.

The money includes the cost of field surveys, water sampling, lab tests and personnel.

Recipients are the Navajo and Southern Ute tribes, the state of Utah, the state of Colorado and two counties and one city in Colorado.

The EPA says it has now spent more than $29 million on spill-related costs.