Los Angeles, Dhu-AlQa'dah 14, 1437, August 17, 2016, SPA -- A year after a flood of toxic mine waste polluted rivers in the US south-west, the United States' largest indigenous group Tuesday filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), alleging a failure to clean up the mess, news media reported, according to dpa. The Navajo Nation said the federal EPA failed to adequately prevent, clean up and compensate for the August 2015 spill from the closed Gold King mine. "After one of the most significant environmental catastrophes in history, the nation and the Navajo people have yet to have their waterways cleaned, their losses compensated, their health protected or their way of life restored," the complaint filed in US District Court in New Mexico said, according to broadcaster CNN. The lawsuit did not specify damages. The spill flooded the Animas and the San Juan rivers with more than 11 million litres of sludge, containing heavy metals including lead, cadmium and mercury. Images after the spill showed the Animas River had turned a garish orange colour. The EPA, which was overseeing maintenance on the closed mine site, did not notify the community for more than 24 hours after the spill. The rivers flow through some of the Navajo Nation's 71,000-kilometre territory in the south-western US states of Arizona, Utah, and New Mexico. Farmers rely on the San Juan River to irrigate crops and water livestock. The EPA took responsibility for the spill and set aside more than 29 million dollars for cleanup and compensation. The agency says the rivers' surface water now meets health and safety standards but continues to warn against contact with river sediment where heavy metals may still be present. The EPA's Office of Inspector General confirmed last month that it was conducting a criminal investigation in the case. --SPA 03:31 LOCAL TIME 00:31 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w