Durango copes with 'orange nastiness' of toxic sludge river pollution

The Animas River in Colorado now glows orange after 3m gallons of toxins spilled in from a nearby gold mine, leaving the small community devastated as water-based tourism plummets and recovery looks to be a long way off

In the shadow of the jagged, 14,000-foot-plus San Juan mountain range sits the fertile valley where Jennifer James Wheeling grew up as part of a ranching family that has taken its lifeblood from the Animas River for decades. That water has been used to grow hay, sustain a grass-fed beef herd, and farm organically grown vegetables.

This week the water glowed orange, filled with heavy metals and toxins that spewed from a gold mine near Silverton, Colorado, last Wednesday after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and its contractor accidentally broke open a dam wall while investigating there.