State orders sewage lagoon shut down

Colorado regulators have ordered a mobile home park northwest of Durango to shut down a sewage lagoon that is seeping into a nearby creek.

The state health department says the contaminated lagoon is leeching iron and coliform into Lightner Creek, a slow-flowing tributary of the Animas River.

Health officials say coliform can produce strains of E. coli that cause diarrhea, nausea, fever and vomiting to humans that come in contact with the water.

According to the Durango Herald, the owner denies receiving a state order to shut down and state officials are still trying to enforce their decree.

The state says if the owner refuses to comply, residents of the mobile home park may be forced to move