I don’t see a tie between Haaland and the Gold King mine spill in the article.
Harris and her team are just pulling leftists from around the country that need employment or a boost to the next political level. She is the former chairman of the NM DNC. From Wiki:
Haaland is a member of the Laguna Pueblo people and a 35th-generation New Mexican. Haaland is a political progressive who supports the movements to abolish ICE and to implement the Green New Deal and Medicare For All.
She is a committed leftist who plays identity politics (racism) in every issue. She is an example of Biden’s adviser team using identity and race as the criteria for picking their leadership team.