EPA may be overstating claims from mine spill

DENVER – The Environmental Protection Agency says it has almost finished a review of damage claims from a Colorado mine spill the agency accidentally triggered.

But an internal agency accounting of those claims could be off by tens of millions of dollars.

It’s the latest in a series of complications and setbacks since EPA contractors unleashed 3 million gallons of wastewater, turning waterways in three states a bright yellow-orange.

An EPA spreadsheet says the claims totalled more than $2.5 billion for economic losses and personal injuries from the 2015 spill. The Associated Press obtained the document under an open records request.

The spreadsheet appears to overstate by $100 million the value of claims submitted by a law firm for a dozen clients.

The EPA didn’t immediately respond to an email asking whether it could verify the accuracy of its list.