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<br />Year Delay on Foothills Likely
<br />In EPA ,Terms for Review
<br />
<br />';(:
<br />
<br />"ear's -Delay on Foothills
<br />Likely for Corps Review
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<br />1:1I
<br />. Continued from patje 3. "We do not propose to beat any drum
<br />mIght ~urfa~e also w,ould be considered, lI..ice," was the way the corps put it, ad-
<br />OgilvIe saId the fIrst two alternatiVes dIng, "It is our hope and our expectation I
<br />,"ouldn't meet Aurora's needs, and that that some of tbe many thorny poin'ts at
<br />,durIn~ the wI."ter, the Rampart Tunnel is issue will fall out quickly,"
<br />half-filled WIth sedIment and on oc- The Water Board manager said that
<br />,caslOns, blocked completely, even another year's delay could add $10
<br />THE STUDY of alternatives won't ex- million to the $135 million-plus 'cost of the
<br />amine any project whicb would treat water treatment project. I
<br />more than 125 million gallons per day, Corps officials have given no indication
<br />and will evaluate the economic and envi- when ,their study will be completed.
<br />.,ronrnental consequences of project cle.-
<br />men t s llwhich are evidently over-
<br />designed. "
<br />
<br />'Finally, the alternatlves will be subject
<br />to t,hree types of analysis: engineering,
<br />environmental and social.
<br />Ogilvie said he was pleased with the
<br />'corps' as.surance that it wouldn't enter
<br />into time-consuming evaluations of alter-
<br />natives which are demonstrably in-
<br />feasibile,
<br />
<br />By JUDITH BRIMBERG :,AND TUEsDAY morning, Ogilvie ac-
<br />Denver Post Staff Writer , cepted EPA amendments asking that the
<br />The U,S, Environmental ProtectIon review be broadened to consider what ef-
<br />Agency has served notice it will abide by \, fict Foothills would Mve on Western
<br />the findings of a U,S, Army Corps of En., Slope water quality and upon Western
<br />llineers' review of the flfst phase of I Slope life in general. ,
<br />Denver's Foothills water. treatment proJ' :I -:---: ,
<br />cct only if sufficient time is devoted to Since the scope of the reVIew IS linuted
<br />that review, to a plant capable of treating only, 125
<br />That means a study of at least five Or million gallons of water a day, OgilVie
<br />six months, said Roger Williams, EPA's, said he expected the effect on the West.
<br />,deputy regional administrator, And that ern Slope would beneglIg.ble,
<br />effectively would P,ut off the start of con. FOOTIULLS, a proposed dam and res.
<br />struction ,of Foothlll~ for another, year, ervoir project in scenic Waterton Canyon,
<br />b,ecause It would miss thiS year s con. 25 miles southwest of Denver, was au-
<br />struction season. thorized by Denver voters five years ago.
<br />, At a meeting Monday at Corps of Engi. But federal approval was needed for
<br />neers offices in Omaha, Neb., represent.. property rights of way and because of en-
<br />,atives of the Corps, EPA and the Denver vironmental concerns,
<br />Water Board agreed on ground rules for Four months ago, the D,S, Interior and
<br />!sllCh a review, Agriculture departments said their re-
<br />~ AND LATER, James L, Ogilvie, the' quirements had been met. There was,
<br />"tater board's manager, said he would ac-:.howeyer, on~ fmal hurdle - a dredg~-
<br />cept proposed EPA amendments because : and.fIlI permIt from the Corps of EngI-
<br />he didn't think they would be tlme-con-peers, , ,
<br />swning. J';; The corps' review will focus on hmmg,
<br />)c, 0 ilvie noted tha, t the corps' ground ',and will attemp,! to asses:> when a plant
<br />rule~ indicated reviewers' wouldn't at. i capable of treating 125 million gallons of
<br />tern t to "relnvent the wheel" but would ,.water per day should be added to the
<br />feI/ on what he described as "extensive t S! .... t . _ lit
<br />and expensive" studies perfor,?ed by tbe
<br />Water Board and other agencIes,
<br />He said he was optimistic that con.
<br />structien could start by Od, I of this
<br />~'ear. ,
<br />'But EPA's Williams pointed out if the
<br />review could have beeu accomplished in
<br />about 45 days, his own a~ency ~ould
<br />Have undertaken such a study, He saId an
<br />EPA hearing last April indicated that
<br />str.ong alternatives to, Foothills hadn't
<br />1jeen adequately exanuned, ,
<br />
<br />"WILIJAMS ALSO accused the Water
<br />Board of "bad faith" and of attempting to
<br />prejudice the outcome of the Corps', stUd>:
<br />by, widening three miles of road m the
<br />lower part of Waterton Canyon prepara-
<br />tory, to beginning construction on Foot.,
<br />bills.
<br />'He said he may ask the Corps to issue
<br />a' cease-und-desist order preventing work
<br />on the road from proceeding..
<br />'But Ogilvie replied' that the Water
<br />Board has authority, under Corps'
<br />procedures, to widen the road.
<br />In agreeing to ground rules for the
<br />Corps review, the three governmental
<br />agencies were in accord the three key
<br />issues.. .
<br />,They listed them as need for additIonal
<br />water treatment, existence of superior a1..
<br />ternatives to the present Foothills pian,
<br />and the severity of environmental, social
<br />and economic impacts.
<br />
<br />Denver system to relieve a potential
<br />shorlage, It also will ask whether the
<br />type of expansion proposed is cost-effec-
<br />five.
<br />
<br />THE WATER BOARD, has proposed to
<br />dam the South Platte River at Strontia
<br />Springs and build its treatment plant,
<br />tunnel and conduit nearby, The plant, as
<br />ultimately developed, could treat 500
<br />million gallons per day, I
<br />,Alternatives to be considered by the
<br />corps are a dam at the mouth of \Vater-
<br />ton Canyon with a new location for the
<br />treatment plant; using the existing South I
<br />Platte diversion structure connected to a I
<br />reservoir adjacent to a treatment plant, ~
<br />and joint use with Aurora of a new d1V~r-
<br />sion dam and the Rampart Tunnel, WIth I
<br />eventual construction of another tunnel
<br />parallel to the Ralhpart TunneL
<br />Any other feasible alternatives which
<br />
<br />Cantin~ed on patje 16.
<br />
<br />Trinidad to Select (j)ueen
<br />
<br />TRINIDAD - The Trinidad Round-Up
<br />Association has announced it will select
<br />a queen from entries received by Aug,
<br />25, Single girls between the ages of 15*
<br />and 21, residents of Las Animas County,
<br />are eligible, Entry blanks are available
<br />at the district court in Trinidad, The
<br />Round-Up itself is Sept. I.
<br />
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<br />00650
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