Post Traumatic Growth – What Will It Take To Stop Orange Rivers?

People kayak in the Animas River near Durango, Colo., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2015, in water colored from a mine waste spill. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said that a cleanup team was working with heavy equipment Wednesday to secure an entrance to the Gold King Mine. Workers instead released an estimated 1 million gallons of mine waste into Cement Creek, which flows into the Animas River. (Jerry McBride/The Durango Herald via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

People Kayak the Animas River north of Durango, Thursday, August 6th, one day after the Gold King Mine spill.  Photo Jerry McBride, Durango Herald via AP 

“Koyaanisqatsi” is the Native American Hopi word for life out of balance

This is the tenth and last Blog in a ten part series called “Through the Lens of the Animas River” that explores the August 5, 2015 Animas River spill in southwest Colorado.  Each blog in this series looks at a different aspect and deeper story behind the spill.  All Embracing Change Blog is focused on change, how to create it, embrace it and in particular the relationship between paradigms of countries, cultures and collective humanity relate to the systems we build, the patterns we see and experiences we have.  All of those are change points, areas we can influence change but require different approaches and time scales.  Learn more about a change,  paradigm shifts or play Blame It Name It Change It or sign up for the All Embracing Change Newsletter.  The first blog was titled, “Who Really Turned My River Orange?” and second “How to Get Rid of the Environmental Protection Agency” followed by “Is the Water in the Gold King Mine a Problem?”, “To Superfund or Not to Superfund Silverton.”,“ The Perfect Response to an Orange River”,  “Hello Durango, where have you been?:”, “Why it Matters When a River Turns Orange” , “Why Anger Is Part of Real Change and Shame Is Not” and “What does Hiroshima, Hurricane Katrina, Michael Brown and the Animas River Have In Common?”

On August 5, 2015 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) accidently released a spill of metals laden acidic mine water from the Gold King Mine.  This turned the Animas River orange and the entire country watch this butterscotch plume travel from Silverton, Colorado through Durango, on to Aztec and Farmington, New Mexico, then Bluff, Utah and into Lake Powell.  The plume also went through Southern Ute and Navajo Nation Tribal Lands.  The story went viral and international.  Perhaps that is because an orange river is an excellent visual story or maybe the irony that EPA caused a harmful spill and they are the agency responsible to protect us from such spills.

There are so many ironies in this event I must point them out.  The first is the obvious.  The EPA or agency responsible for protecting our water and air from pollution caused a spill that polluted a river.  This irony maybe a blessing in disguise.  As I look at other similar disasters, Gulf oil spill, Exxon Valdez spill, fracking an associated water contamination or water pollution, West Virginia’s Elk River chemical spill bring to mind events you might remember, none of those has triggered a paradigm shift.  All of these and the thousands more do not get attention or press due to the smaller scale, create some change, but not the tipping point needed for a paradigm shift.  Maybe the Animas will be such a change agent because EPA caused it.

Another irony is the fear people had and still have over their drinking water being safe.  The first irony always gets me, and that is people don’t know where their drinking water comes from and as such, don’t pay attention to the care of the air and land feeding that source.   Our paradigm allows us to “not worry” someone is dealing with that, doing their job.   We need to know and actively protect our water, just like we are starting to do with our food.

The second irony is the amount of testing that goes into drinking water versus bottled water. We think because it is on a shelf in a store it is safe.  Industry counts on that ignorance.  In most cases in the U.S. drinking water providers have to comply with Safe Drinking Water Act, which ensures the safety of your drinking water.  Companies who provide bottled water do not; they are not regulated under the same system.

Likewise, fear of eating the fish in the Animas ironic when the cans of tuna fish in the grocery store have more mercury than all fish in the Animas combined.   Tuna fish is regulated by the Federal Food and Drug Administration.  Mercury warnings in wild fish? Your state health department or Clean Water Act agency determines safe levels and posts warnings.  The metals of concern in the Gold King Mine water are cadmium, copper, lead and zinc primarily.  These metals do not accumulate in fish filets, but cause dysfunction in liver and kidneys for the fish.  Mercury, selenium and arsenic can accumulate in fish filets but tend to be unavailable in running waters.  In lakes that is a different story.   You and I have levels of mercury, selenium and arsenic in our muscle tissue in some concentration. We cannot get rid of metals on this planet, they exist in some form; the key is to have them exist in forms that do not harm us.

Accidents cause trauma. Trauma changes us by design. Trauma can cause stress and growth. Post traumatic growth is a real phenomenon just like post traumatic stress disorder.  Post traumatic growth is in essence is identifying and owning what has changed in us because of the trauma.   It changes the lens in which we view the trauma.  The conversations shift from being about the event and pain to how the event changed us for the better.  What changes in are your beliefs, your personal paradigms.  The shift can be so profound; we would not take back the event at all.  You have witnessed post traumatic growth if you have ever heard someone’s story that experienced an accident, disease diagnosis or loss of possession or similar profound event and when asked “would you take it all back, they answer no, they would not change the traumatic event or take it back as if it didn’t happen.  Why, because they now identify with their new paradigms and what those manifest in systems, patterns and events. Events they could not have imagined in the “pre” life.   I accept EPA’s public apology and thank all the individuals who have and continue to respond and take action.

This event has changed me. Awaken me up in unexpected ways.  I am still opening and learning.  It has also validated much for me.  First and foremost is that people are involved in these accidents, every time.  And the most honorable, productive, connecting path we can collectively take to make sure these accidents don’t happen again needs to recognize and see the human and humanity in the event.  It is one reason disasters bring people together.   It will be the reason we get to a paradigm shift quicker and with less suffering.

What it will take to stop rivers from turning oranges is all of us, questioning our paradigms, shifting shame and blame using compassion and be willing to embrace the world of AND instead of either or.  Any paradigm not aligned with nature and universal laws is breaking down.  It takes a critical mass to cause a paradigm shift.  It means we cannot go back to sleep.  I invite you to embrace the change agent you are.

This concludes the ten series blog on “Through the Lens of the Animas River” blog series that explores the August 5, 2015 Animas River spill in southwest Colorado.  The blog might be done, but the lessons and actions needed are not.  Thank you for reading this series and providing your perspectives as well.  Namaste. 

“We cannot be selfish or timid if we hope to have a decent world for our children and grandchildren.” Jimmy Carter.