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<br />• Moment of Truth Arrives for Scars on Mountains
<br />(Continued From Paye One)
<br />had to stale what it proposes to
<br />do with the quarries-what pur-
<br />poses they will be used for-
<br />when the mining is finished. It
<br />also had to publish in legal ad-
<br />vertisement form its requests
<br />for permits and some of the
<br />facts about each quarry.
<br />These are some of the facts
<br />reported about each of the
<br />quazries:
<br />SNYDF.R-Castle wishes to
<br />continue underground mining
<br />for high calcium industrial rack
<br />in 80 acres. Twenty-seven o~
<br />those already have been dis-
<br />turbed. The open pit quarry is 35
<br />acres, with the balance being
<br />underground.
<br />The area is zoned for forest
<br />and recreation uses, with min-
<br />ing artowed under the grand-
<br />father provisions of the law.
<br />The area is surrounded by the
<br />Pike National Forest.
<br />To control the noise from
<br />blasting operations, the com-
<br />pany has a blFfoot berm near
<br />the opening of the mine that
<br />rolls the sound waves upward
<br />so that they will not Qrunder
<br />into Manltou Springs.
<br />Blasting usually is done be-
<br />fore quilling time, at about 4
<br />p.m., and the standard proce-
<br />dure is to bore about 30 holes,
<br />load them with ammonium nit-
<br />rate and detonate the charges
<br />in pairs on successive millise-
<br />cond delays.
<br />Mining is projected to contin-
<br />ue at least through 2017. Sug-
<br />gested eventual use of the area:
<br />a park.
<br />Reclamation plans call for
<br />shrubs, trees and grasses on 12-
<br />by-14[oot retraces, and grasses
<br />on ]0- to 30-foot benches.
<br />QUEENS CANON--Castle
<br />owns 100 acres, has leases on 60
<br />acres and leases another 15
<br />acres for storage. Of the total
<br />175 acres, 81 are affected by the
<br />mining operations.
<br />Mining has been completed on
<br />36 acres and 12 acres have been
<br />reclaimed. This is zoned F (For-
<br />est and Recreation), with min-~
<br />i n g under the grandfather,
<br />rights. I
<br />Operations are projected toy
<br />continue until 1988," or at a
<br />much later date, depending on
<br />commercial conditions," and
<br />the eventual rise of the area is
<br />suggested to be as a game pre-
<br />serve.
<br />PIKEVIEW-Also known ail
<br />one time as Lennox-Breed, this
<br />area consists of 90 acres ox•ned
<br />by Castle, which has an un~a
<br />tented c{aim on 40 acres and a
<br />special-use permit (or 20 more
<br />acres.
<br />Sixty-one acres presently are
<br />used, 53 are set aside for future
<br />use and 20 are used for _torage
<br />This is zoned F (Forest and
<br />Recreation, with mining under
<br />grandfather rights.
<br />The quarcy area is adjacent
<br />to land owned by the Rockrim-
<br />mon Land Ca, and zoned by the
<br />city for an industrial park,
<br />which Rockrimmon Land has
<br />declared it plans~lo build there.
<br />Castle expects to mine in
<br />this area until 2032 or later, and
<br />suggested that when mining be
<br />completed the site become an
<br />industrial park.
<br />Environmental facts are part
<br />of the considerations in granting
<br />and extending permits.
<br />I In its statements to the board
<br />Castle listed the following wild-
<br />life as possibly being affected
<br />Iby the operations: Bighorn
<br />'.sheep, mule deer, golden eagle,
<br />raccoon, striped skunks, golden
<br />mantled ground squirrel, rock
<br />squirrel, 13-lined squirrel, woad-
<br />rat, prairie falcon, red tailed
<br />hawk, stellar jay, humminghird
<br />and western tanager.
<br />Protests about work in the
<br />mountains are not new here.
<br />When Spencer Penrose, buil-
<br />der of the Brpadmoor Hotel,
<br />ran a road up the side of Che-
<br />yenne Mountain, residents of
<br />that day complained loudly that
<br />he was ruining the beauty of
<br />the area.
<br />That is the road that goes
<br />past Cheyenne tllountain Zoo,
<br />the Will Rogers Shrine and m
<br />to the top of the mountain.
<br />Present-day opponents of.
<br />Castle's plans claim iha't the
<br />quarrying scars are mac`
<br />worse than a road.
<br />SPABA tiled a 25-page objec-
<br />tion with the slate board last
<br />month. It will be part of the
<br />record as the board considers
<br />the case.
<br />The Environment Committee
<br />of Citizens Goals far Colorado
<br />Springs, has as one of its aims
<br />to "preserve and enhance those.
<br />natural and-or man-made fea-
<br />tures and amenities which his-
<br />torically have caniributed to the
<br />desirable environment and
<br />image o[ this region. Two goals
<br />listed by the group are: 1. Stop
<br />visible mining on the Front
<br />Range, and 2. Reclaim quarries
<br />and other blighted areas.
<br />Fred Sondermann, chairman
<br />of the environmental committee
<br />and a former Colorado Springs
<br />city councilman, believes the
<br />people who mine those a~ea•
<br />should 6e responsible for recl-
<br />aiming them.
<br />The need for such permits as
<br />Castle is seeking came in ]97?
<br />when the Colorado Legislature
<br />passed the Colorado Open "~n
<br />ing Reclamation Act and Gov.
<br />John Love signed it into law.
<br />[n this action, the legislature
<br />declared that the "extraction of
<br />m+nerals and the reclamation of
<br />land are both necessary and
<br />proper" in Colorado.
<br />It also set up the Mined Land
<br />Reclamation Board as part of
<br />the Stale Department of Natu-
<br />ral Resources.
<br />The Mined Land Reclamation
<br />Board is comprised of seven
<br />members, including one dlrec-
<br />~ for who also is board secretary.
<br />One member must be a member
<br />of the State Soil Conservation
<br />Board, which selects the person.
<br />The ohter five members are ap-
<br />pointed by the governor. Three
<br />must have "substantial ex-
<br />perience in agriculture or con-
<br />scrvation." and two must have
<br />i"substantial experience in min-
<br />ing."
<br />Terms are four years, and the
<br />board meets monthly.
<br />The law provides that a mina.
<br />quarry or sand pit operator
<br />with an existing permit ma~~
<br />apply for continuation, and that
<br />each operation needs a permit.
<br />The board has the power to
<br />grant permits (or the life of the
<br />mine if the operator has com ~
<br />plied with the law under his.
<br />earlier permit.
<br />Further, a company may
<br />request a permit to enlarge its
<br />operations if it has had a per-
<br />mit (or two years or more.
<br />Operators must post a surety
<br />bond and when the firm has
<br />completed reclamation of the
<br />mined area it may notify the
<br />board, which then will have the
<br />area inspected. If reclamation
<br />is satisfactory, the board will
<br />release the bond.
<br />in support o[ the request.
<br />On:e the board has set a dale
<br />for a hearing, it must notify all
<br />perscns who have signified an
<br />inter^st about the lime and
<br />place of the hearing.
<br />On.;e the hearings are con-
<br />cludes the board may make its
<br />decisions on the spot, or delay
<br />them. But delays can not exceed
<br />120 days. If the board makes no
<br />decision, the permit(s) are con-
<br />siden~ approved.
<br />The board must grant permits
<br />unles;t:
<br />-Tire application is not com-
<br />plete or the needed surety as-
<br />surance is cwt filed.
<br />-The required fee, ranging
<br />From {100 to ¢500, is not paid.
<br />-Tte operators are in viola-
<br />tion of local zoning, or contrary
<br />to stale or federal laws.
<br />-The operations would ad•
<br />versely affeM manmade struc-
<br />tures within 200 feet of the oper-
<br />ation, unless there is agreement
<br />by owners involved.
<br />-The operations are prohibit-
<br />ed by law or regulations, or ere
<br />within the boundazies of the Na-
<br />tional Park System. National
<br />Wildlife Refuge system, Natlon-
<br />aI Trails System, National Rec-
<br />reation System, Wild and Scenic
<br />Rivers System, National Recre-
<br />ation P.reas, or other recreation-
<br />al facilities or planned facilities
<br />or the state park system.
<br />Every year after the permit
<br />is granted, the operator must
<br />submit a reclamation plan and
<br />map showing the affected land
<br />and details of the reclamation
<br />plan.
<br />Also, "acid-farming ar tox~~
<br />
<br />c.ng materials that has
<br />mined shall be handled in
<br />Any citizen or organizatipn a manner that will protect the
<br />has a right to file a protest with drama;e system from pollu-
<br />the board, or to file statements lion.
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