Heinrich To Speak At Oversight Hearings On Gold King Mine Spill

On Wednesday, September 16, 2015, at 8 a.m. MT/10 a.m. ET, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) will speak before the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works during a hearing, "Oversight of the Cause, Response, and Impacts of EPA's Gold King Mine Disaster." Senators Heinrich sent a letter to the Committee's Chairman James Inhofe and Ranking Member Barbara Boxer last month requesting the oversight hearing.

In the afternoon, at 12:15 p.m. MT/2:15p.m. ET, Senator Heinrich will participate in a Committee on Indian Affairs hearing, "Oversight Hearing on EPA's Gold King Mine Disaster: Examining the Harmful Impacts to Indian Country." Last month, Senator Heinrich met with Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye in Window Rock, Ariz., to discuss the response efforts in Indian Country.

Senator Heinrich will discuss the impact of spill and the need for reforms to our mining laws to end once and for all the practice of giving away valuable minerals on America's public land, for free, and without a plan to address a century of pollution from abandoned mines. 

WHAT: Committee on Environment and Public Works, "Oversight of the Cause, Response, and Impacts of EPA's Gold King Mine Disaster"

WHEN: 8 a.m. MT/10 a.m. ET

WHERE: 406 Dirksen Senate Office Building or live stream

WITNESS: Gina McCarthy, Administrator-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

WHAT: Committee on Indian Affairs, "Oversight Hearing on EPA's Gold King Mine Disaster: Examining the Harmful Impacts to Indian Country"

WHEN: 12:15 p.m. MT/2:15 p.m. ET

WHERE: 628 Dirksen Senate Office Building or live stream

WITNESSES: Gina McCarthy, Administrator-U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; Russell Begaye,President-Navajo Nation; James "Mike" Olguin, Tribal Council Member-Southern Ute Indian Tribe; Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President-American Action Forum; David C. Weindorf, Associate Dean for Research-Department of Plant & Soil Sciences, Texas Tech University; Gilbert Harrison, Rancher & Irrigator-Navajo Nation, Gadii'ahi Chapter