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<br />L<B>and<!B> <B>mine</B>
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<br />Bechtel spokesman Jeff Berger denied that.
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<br />By the time construction began, he said, Bechtel had limited its role to
<br />building the system that would separate gold from the cyanide solution after
<br />it was passed over the ore, All of that equipment was safely indoors,
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<br />"It was not our decision to build those portions of the plant in winter," Berger
<br />said,
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<br />Linkletter, the bank vice president, visited Summitville in November.
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<br />More than a half-foot of snow had fallen, but "despite the cold and snow,
<br />they were able to work quite effectively," he said in a memo to the bank's
<br />files on Galactic,
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<br />In his deposition, Linkletter said he thought Summitville was like Denver.
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<br />"You can get some awful lousy days here but, you know, you play golf in
<br />February," he said,
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<br />But no one was playing golf at Summitville, where Leonard had been told by
<br />his superiors to "do whatever it takes to finish on time to maintain the
<br />schedule, that cost is kind of not an object."
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<br />"And I had my marching orders."
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<br />Fighting stiff winds, workers tried to lay sheets of plastic, welding them with
<br />hot glue to create 25 acres of liner. The liner was supposed to keep the
<br />cyanide solution from seeping into groundwater,
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<br />"On certain days, you just couldn't work outside," Leonard said,
<br />"Mechanically, if the wind was blowing, we might be able to remove the
<br />snow, but it would blow back before we could get anything done up there,"
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<br />Colorado's mine regulators understood winter in the Rockies, but they didn't
<br />interfere.
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<br />"I remember people saying, 'This is a completely impractical proposal,'" said
<br />Barry, the assistant state Natural Resources director at the time. "But I also
<br />remember saying, 'Well, this is stupid, but it's their nickel, it's their risk.'''
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<br />In December, workers discovered that the sheets of plastic, glued during
<br />extreme cold, were coming apart. Galactic fired the subcontractor who was
<br />laying the plastic and hired anotl1er company,
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<br />By now the project was months l:>ehind schedule,
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<br />Then came an avalanche - in late April, Mounds of snow and tons of loose
<br />rock ripped up the plastic liner,
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<br />"It was one big mess to look at," Leonard recalled,
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<br />As the spring storm melted, water pooled at the bottom of the cyanide leach
<br />pad, Water - either from the melting avalanche or from the fire hoses
<br />workers used to speed the melting - ran between the plastic sheets and
<br />the clay liner below, making deep ruts in the clay,
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<br />Further, the plastic sheets had been ripped from their anchors at the top of
<br />the hill and were sliding down the side of the valley, which was steeper than
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<br />http://www.denver-mm.com/news/0507smmtl.shtrnl
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<br />5/7/00
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