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I - Sept. 17.1972 63 ..- .r...."........ - '" - --- --- - -- - - -- A SECTION ON THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE WEST -- I I I ~ if -J;.: ~ NEEDLE ROCK IS FOUND fOUR MilES FROM CRAWFORD, COLO. It will be In an aO-acre treet set Clside from mining, other development. '000 '0''0'0 I Gunnison I MO:\'TROSE. Colo. - A major new rec- reation area for Colorado, 30,000 acre~ along 16 miles of the rugged rim of the Gunnisoll River Canyon. will be dedicated Oct 1. The GUMlson Gorge Recreation Lands dedication ceremonies on the rim of the canyon northeast of here will attract a host of dignitaries, possibly including Inte- rior Secretary Rogers C.B. 1\lorlon. :-'Iost of the area Ls reachable only b, foot, horseback or off-tbe-road vdlicles. The sleep can)'on walls rise more than Gorge E POWER, WATER, POPULATION Oil Shale Poses Complex Problems By STEVE WYNKOOP Denver Post Staff Writer The development uf oil shale resources In northwest Colorado, southern Wyoming and IlOrtheast Utah promises aweSome en-- vIronmental challenge9. Power plants with cumulative generat. ing capacity as large as the giant Four Comers plant in New Mexico would need to be constructed f<) power the size oil shale industry the Interior Department believes will exist b) 1985. I11ms storing water sufficient for a half million persons may need to be construct. ed on tributaries to the Colorado River to supply oil shale processing plants. Processed shale residue with uncertain revegetation potential would fill canyons. On some federal prototype lease lands up to half of the original 5,I20-acre surface could be covered with shale residue. Recreation Area Dedication Set 2,800 feet to the canyon rim in places. The area will be developed under a long-range plan drawn by local citizens and the Bureau of Land Management (BL~I). The area Is just north of the narrow Black Canyon of the Gunnison National "Ionument. The canyon widens from the black rock into a multicolored formation - layer on layer of green, gray, brown, rose and purple - that awears to change color with cbanges in positions of the sun and clouds. Deer, mountain llon. bobcat, fox, mink. t>Jk and golden and bald eagles are among wild creatures that inhabit the little-visit- ed area. Harrison Loesch, a Montrose lawyer serving 3$ assistant secretary of interior, will be host at the 1 p.m. cerernOllles ar. ranged In cooperation with the Delta and Montrose Chambers of Commerce. BesIdes Secretary Morton, Colorado c0n- gressional delegation members Sen. Gor- don Allott, Rep. Wayne Aspinall and Rep. Frank Evans ha\'e been invited to attend. ~~,~ ....:_1..,.-.1. _ _ _ -- - --....- data on air quality, .....ater quality and wildllCe existing in the areas tG be itfCed. ed by the pr.oposed leasing program.. Energy Crisis Key The Interior De-partment says environ.: mental acceptability is a key to ~wbether oil shale wlll be fully developed, beyobd the prototype phase At stake is an energy supply that. J1 tapped, could parti~lIy close the oil im~ port gap, solve the petroleum "energy crisis" and set a low C1:!illng on United States energy prices. Locked In the oil ~hale are 1.8 trillion barrels of oil-enough to supply all cur. rent domestic petroleum needs for thret centuries if it could all be extracted. :~. In the richest oil shale zones lie SOO billion barrels of oil. rn the tricky business of balancing, energy need! and environmental qualify the question being asked is: iI Can development of a Western on ,hal. industry bave nationwide enYir.ollj6entaI benefits at the cost of acceptable ,~pviron. mental damage in Colorado, wyoring and L'tahl'" ~ Responses to this questlon were mixed: last week during interviews ,with oil shal.: de vel 0 pm e n t propooents, environ-' Continued on po;. 64. .;? 1'_J,yse ~;tI.. Neither hide nor hair" / That's how the By 1981. it is expected that the arid, sparsely populated oil shale anas, would experience a population increase of 47,000 perron! with attendant increases in crime and social problems. It is estimated that by 1984 1,100 per. sons will be killed as a direct result of a limited government-private industry coop- erative oil shale program. Air quality in the West Virginia-sized oil shale areas of the three staIRs will be degraded. Water quality in the Colorado River will decline if possible salinity increases occur due to oil shale industry water use. Rio Blonco Problem A ruptured oil shale pipellne could dump a maximum of 3,500 to 14,000 bar- rels oJ oil. There are 42 gallons in a bar- rel. The chances of a pipeline rupture are He said It Is the first time in Colorado that a comprehensive BLM-citizen effort has resulted in setting aside such an area. The gorge recreation site is part of 100.000 acres of public land covered by the plan. Besides the gorge, Needle Rock, supposedly minimized because the oll shale regions aren't In earthquake.prone areas. However, in Colorado, full development of the Project Rio Blanco gas field by nuclear explosives could result In 140 to 280 man-made earthquakes at the center of Coloradl)'s richest oil shale zone. The Interior Department hasn't taken a position on whether it will support or op- pose Project Rio Blanco, but the oil shale industry is clearly opposed to it. These and other environmental effectJ of oil shale development are cataloged in 1,150 pages of a draft emironmenta1 Im- pact statement on the proposed federal prototype oil shale leasing program. Bids on a first Colorado lease could be opened as early as January. However, it is admitted by the Interior Department that it doesn't have baseline prominent landmark lour miles northeast of Crawford, Colo., will be in an 8O-acre tract set aside from other developments. The rock is a remnant of a volcanic core formed millions of years ago- Another photo, page 69. - . - ,.. I - - tLtOOO