Rep. Lauren Boebert seeking $5m in federal funds to remove ‘toxic black sludge’ from drinking water in tiny Colorado community
Colorado Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert visited a small community in Morgan County, in the eastern part of her state, promising to address a long-standing issue that has left locals with “toxic black sludge” in place of clean drinking water.
Boebert this week toured the Prairie View Ranch Water District, which lies 50 miles north of Denver, and told the residents: “This is something that certainly needs to be addressed. I’m sorry it’s been ignored for two decades.
“This is something that should upset and appall every single Coloradan.”
To remedy the situation, she has pledged to ask the House Appropriations Committee for a $5 million grant to help overhaul the local water supply.
Her request will be put before the committee later this month and, if it is approved, will then likely be folded into a larger appropriations bill that would have to pass through the House of Representatives and Senate before reaching President Donald Trump’s desk for signing off.
Boebert’s office believes that could happen before the end of September, according to CBS News.
Boebert has been notable in recent months over her outspoken support for Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which has slashed federal budgets in a bid to reduce “waste” expenditure and fraud.
The Independent has reached out to Boebert’s office for further comment.
The water crisis in eastern Colorado has been in the making for almost 20 years, with the area’s 150 residents saying they have been repeatedly let down by the people elected to protect them and left with houses that are worthless without reliable water.
CBS reports that the Morgan County Board of County Commissioners allowed the district to be run as a for-profit private company for 16 years, a period during which the Colorado Division of Housing allegedly failed to stop unscrupulous developers from using an unregistered installer, using false credentials and faked signatures, to assemble houses and infrastructure on the cheap.
The network adds that the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment’s Water Quality Control Division failed to act for a decade after learning that the homes had been erected without valid state approval or proper regulatory oversight, resulting in contaminated water and widespread discontent.
“We have systems. We have policies. We have regulations that should never allow this, and it went by blind eyes and deaf ears,” resident Sam Belmonte told CBS.
He challenged Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a gubernatorial candidate, to follow Boebert’s example and said he found her visit “invigorating” after years of feeling ignored.
“It gave us some sense of hope that Congresswoman Boebert actually came,” Belmonte said.
