A judge in Washington, D.C., ruled in favor of a man suing the Environmental Protection Agency over an incident seven years ago in which the agency released around 3 million gallons of contaminated mine drainage filled with metals into the Animas River. 

Judge Armando Bonilla of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims denied a motion to dismiss Todd Hennis v. The United States of America, Hennis’ representation, New Civil Liberties Alliance, said in a release Tuesday. The decision allows Hennis’ suit to proceed to discovery and then to trial, the NCLA said. 

Oil & gas leasing practice eliminated by Hickenlooper bill

According to a video about the case released by the NCLA, Hennis’ company owns the Gold King Mine in Silverton and Hennis himself owns the town of Gladstone, which was a mining community created in the 1870s. On Aug. 5, 2015, the EPA dug out the portal to the Gold King Mine, releasing the bright-orange water draining onto Hennis’ property and into the Animas River, according to the NCLA. The firm also said the drainage included some 880,000 pounds of metals in the contaminated water. 

In the aftermath, the NCLA said Hennis allowed the EPA access to his property for emergency management purposes, but Hennis alleges the EPA took advantage of him and ignored the scope of the access he gave the agency by building a $2.3 million water-treatment facility on his property. Hennis also said that the EPA threatened him with exorbitant fines of $59,000 per day if he refused continued access to the property. 

“I still have financial responsibility for land that I cannot use, I cannot sell, and quite frankly I can’t go on without permission from the EPA,” Hennis said in the NCLA’s video. 

El Paso, Teller, Park county residents invited to submit feedback on electric vehicle infrastructure draft study

According to the NCLA, the United States has incurred fees greater than $44 million in response costs related to the Gold King Mine spill and will incur an additional $20.7 million in future costs. 

“Today, the Court of Federal Claims recognized what we have long known. EPA must answer for the bad decisions it has made and the unlawful actions it has taken since 2015,” said Kara Rollins, litigation counsel for the NCLA. “We are pleased that Mr. Hennis’ case is moving ahead, and we look forward to presenting the facts about what the EPA did to him — and took from him.”