Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump laid into the Environmental Protection Agency for the accidental release of mining waste that discolored a Colorado river, calling it a "disgraceful" mistake.
"I'm looking at that every night now on the news, and the water is pure yellow. It's all acid, the worst stuff," Trump said in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt Thursday. "Probably, you're right, probably going to kill the fish, kill everything. And it was totally their mistake."
"I mean, they go around and give people like me a violation if something minor happens. It is so disgraceful what happened with that river, just incredible," Trump added, according to a transcript.
The EPA has faced plenty of fire after causing the spill last Wednesday when a team evaluating water releases at an abandoned mine and assessing future clean-up accidentally triggered the release of 3 million gallons of mining waste while excavating loose material at the mine entrance.
Thursday, the agency said that tests showed that levels of 24 metals in the water — including arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury — had returned to their pre-spill levels in the area between the spill and a municipal water intake. State officials have indicated that the water is returning to safe levels and could be reopened for recreational activity soon.