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Access in and out of the Zephyr mine would require massive trucks to share a single-lane,dirt road with <br /> tourists,Jeep tours,fishing guides, hikers, mountain bikers, and campers.This will be extremely dangerous. <br /> The road(CR3)winds up and down mountainsides with many areas too narrow for cars to pass in opposing <br /> directions. Drivers will be forced to back their vehicles in reverse until they find a safe place to make room for <br /> the mining trucks.There is no doubt:accidents will happen, and people will get hurt. <br /> Beyond that,word will spread that the area is no longer enjoyable for outdoor enthusiasts.The dangers, <br /> sounds,smells, and debris will disrupt the wildlife and visitors for miles around. Large industrial equipment isn't <br /> what attracts tourist dollars to our area. People come for the great outdoors.And when they learn that it's no <br /> longer fun to be outside here,they'll stop coming. <br /> From a financial perspective,what does Canon City get from this mine?Best-case scenario,this mine would <br /> hinder our outdoor industry—the backbone of our local economy.Worst case,we end up with a yellow river, no <br /> tourism,and only the shrinking prison industry to keep us going. <br /> The most likely outcome is that Canon City residents give away a precious resource to a foreign company and <br /> burdens future generations with the financial responsibility of safely storing the hazardous waste left behind. <br /> Reclamation <br /> Zephyr has only allocated$261,813 for reclamation of the"affected area"when the mine shuts down. It doesn't <br /> take an expert to realize this figure is grossly inadequate. <br /> The only explanation is that Zephyr doesn't plan to be involved in the project when the mine closes.They'll sell <br /> out before then and won't care about reclamation—or who pays for it. <br /> Similarly,Zephyr has not allocated any funds to address an unexpected fire,explosion, pollution leakage,or <br /> power outage.So, if something happens before the mine closes,who will pay to stop it,fix it,or clean it up?The <br /> local residents. <br /> ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERNS <br /> Without conducting environmental impact assessments,Zephyr has already explored in the Grape Creek area. <br /> There are two federal protective designations here,"the Grape Creek Area of Critical Environmental Concern <br /> (ACEC), identified in the BLM's 1996 Royal Gorge Field Office Resource Management Plan (RMP),and the <br /> Lower Grape Creek Wilderness Study Area(WSA)." <br /> As a community,we don't know what the environmental impacts of this mine would be(and neither does <br /> Zephyr).We only know the risks involved and the potential consequences of short-sighted decisions.Zephyr's <br /> reassurances are uninformed and careless. <br /> Water <br /> Grape Creek is 1,000 feet below the proposed mine site and feeds into the Arkansas River upstream from the <br /> city's water treatment intake. If the creek becomes polluted by the 3,600 pounds of processed chemicals stored <br /> on-site or the tailings pool,the lives and well-being of every Canon City resident are at stake. <br /> But the impacts would not be isolated to only Canon City or even Fremont County. Every community <br /> downstream would suffer the consequences. From drinking water to agriculture irrigation,the health and <br /> economic impacts would be catastrophic.When the lawsuits roll in,who's paying?Taxpayers. <br /> Beyond that, in a semi-arid climate that sees very little rainfall or snow,Zephyr plans to use 65,000,000 gallons <br /> of underground water per year to process the ore on site. <br /> Over the proposed 5-year Iifespan of this mine,that's 325,000,000 gallons of fresh,clean water that can no <br /> longer be used by our local residents and the large number of tourists who visit our community. <br />