St. Mary's Food Bank helping Navajo Nation residents during water crisis

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - Water in Northern Arizona may be contaminated from that toxic mine spill in Colorado, which is forcing residents on the Navajo Nation to use bottled water to get by.

Over the next 36 hours, five tractor-trailer loads of 200,000 bottles of water are heading the the places that need them the most.

Otherwise, they'd be drinking runoff toxic waste from the Gold King Mine that runs into the Animas River in Colorado.

It's expected to flow into the San Juan River and eventually into the Colorado River.

Another concern is the waste could end up in well water, but right now, the Navajo Nation has shut down these wells for testing.

"On the Arizona and Utah side, they rely on those wells for drinking water," Jerry Brown said. "We knew right away we were going to need some help and we've been pretty much working over the last 12 hours to get that water together."

Together, the St. Mary's Food Bank is helping serve the Arizona Community.

St. Mary's is asking the public for help in these efforts by donating water to them or any Goodwill in the Valley