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A Nliner Strikes ~a Haim
<br />for Equitable Trr~a~tmer~t
<br />Idaho Spnngs gold miner AI Mosch"/ought and rodh'some important conces- r.n
<br />sions Jor small-time mining operations. "' nwg
<br />government routinely fines in- mess leftoy a previous gmvalion. But
<br />divtduals and corporations forpol- it's only cute event in a litany of ironiei
<br />luting tie envtronmmq but wheq and ~we~ve regulation, he says. , ~~.
<br />the state letTifd~tfie equiJalmt of a fine f ~ I4fo's~l.lstd his eldest son opvate the
<br />agaiast a mine for cleaning up the en- family,.t>sine, located about three miles
<br />vironment, he decided enough was west of lrjaho Springs on the Trail Creek
<br />eaorYth...,.. __. _~... ..:..,.. Ctwnry R d._ aac
<br />'rite tnistv,37-yeu-old AlMmclt, had travel 4te-fi'itl Creek road 'Y; and
<br />grown aaustomed over the years to Eil- many accidents ovv the years ebeen
<br />Ng the hundreds of permits required to blamed on a trend injflle road near
<br />operale+Itu;ortt4eegeld mine rveat elf Mosch s mine. More speofiolly, says the
<br />Idaho Springs. Then last fall his ravails ~ Cku Crock County t,
<br />srorseted akv he indtted the PBe of roclyl oqM
<br />pe neighbors to' obstructed the views of '
<br />' smiove a pde of tocks~ from hb Property" ..
<br />,.~ . flat obstrtcted the view of vehichln atW ' tdrrcctions. ; ; .
<br />~" _ ar~ptts. The stale i Mien Neighbors aa6dt to
<br />Iron Board drdered"RY '7 amtove the Pil "'Wanting
<br />-syiS1,WD, bond •guvanteeing Ite ' So be a good _ .tlwptbring
<br />t}¢rockrtat later date. mtheir mad Sr' . andl if,"Ire says.
<br />"they. m taco, ttreaprrss therrgntitude,
<br />'roi{3 represmSs„ "regraded the o mine read. t.avss in
<br />~~~~~~1gOD's, Mm1lt (teed of minor b~yav." '
<br />tltatthe';safe would fine a This xeming~~'
<br />"'for deani+tg up the' Mosch m a pB ((( X '
<br />,:LOOK
<br />
<br />EIIGHLIGNT
<br />tga 7eof .... •30
<br />'adtv~ri
<br />e.ua rypomtirrnr.
<br />au aa. •
<br />a~ 101 ~~ E.celtuipe(y earth /lhami
<br />tr1 ,A,M ClArrlr Onry
<br />f~iu wren r, tun
<br />.~n Wn~ one r. ~s9-aul
<br />Belore neighbors soaped th~k:
<br />away, an inspector from the Mined,rnd
<br />Rxlamation Division of the Col do
<br />Department of Natural Resour d
<br />found everything at the mine to in
<br />order. Two months after the rocW Were
<br />removed, the inspector sent Mosch
<br />anothu inspection repot staling dti
<br />provements done by and foe
<br />nrighborshadaeated new problems~The
<br />department told Mosch that his reclatha-
<br />tiortFraO~ which guarantees that and
<br />distuiB2d by mining will be reclaim~bY
<br />Q1pj~~j e d the miner defaults, wou e
<br />bted from its current 5300 to bra
<br />$750 and $1,000.
<br />Mosch challenged the depakMf/@.~n
<br />the grounds that the bond increase w0ulrl
<br />be a hardship on his family, w h
<br />already qualifies for welfare'
<br />because of his low income and
<br />medical costs for a young son
<br />Down i Syndrome. (Mosch declineFi~o
<br />say how much his mine produces t
<br />days. only that in the '30s, i[ prod
<br />about SS million N silver and gold
<br />At an appeals hearing Oct. 73,
<br />Mined [and Reclamation Board said t
<br />although the rock pile was leveled b~' anJ
<br />for neighboring residents and waso,~+o
<br />benefit to the mine, Mosch would .ly-?ve
<br />to post an additional recamation 6plfd
<br />because land had been disturbed. ~'b'
<br />However, because of Mosch's IdW'i~i-
<br />come and his presentation of Four beds
<br />from local contractors stating that Ihepile
<br />of rocks could be restocked for only 5100,
<br />the board lowered his bond to SI00.
<br />r Mosch is still not entirely satisfied."He
<br />complains that the bureamcy overtacirtg
<br />the mining industry in Colorado has
<br />~¢eCOtM imwieldy The riates miningin-
<br />dustry has many faces, he says, rangifig
<br />from the large mining companies Bke
<br />AMAX to smaller mining comp
<br />down to the "Mom and Pon' oovati -
<br />d jo mine sizes don't hanslaW
<br />into diHerencesirfYe~'riliLdht',~Yia-vaver.
<br />The same regulations governing
<br />also govern Mosch. He and ether scoot
<br />operators must obtain more than 35 an-
<br />nual permib'(rom a Boren Federal and
<br />slate agendas before they can step foot
<br />on their properits. ~ '
<br />A recmtlyyassed law requires all mina
<br />operators [o post a SS million bond B they`
<br />year. The bond translates into a 3
<br />insurantt fee, says state reprcse
<br />Sam WWiams (D. Breckenridge)
<br />district include Ida6'o'Spr-vtgs.
<br />~. r.y:
<br />' ~ ti
<br />IM,~ ..GiLASS_IINTING
<br />~~
<br />;.
<br />` - .~
<br />::$99.00' ::
<br />--~ MOSf VEHICLES $c'r ~ ~~
<br />andalanal 30$ Havana a004P
<br />'~SunPro
<br />Colorado's Sun Prof¢ssionals
<br />~..
<br />'To just move a few sticks of dynamite
<br />costs SS million dollars," says Williams.
<br />"We have to revise the fees ro be consis-
<br />tent with what's happening with ddfereLt-
<br />sized operations.
<br />Dave Shelton. director of ehe reclama-
<br />tion division, says he has a lot of sym-
<br />pathy (or small miners. "It's a risky
<br />business. There have been a lot more min-
<br />ing failures than successes "
<br />Shelton says oven though he rs required
<br />to enforce the same regulations on small
<br />miners as large, he is proposing to Rep.
<br />Sally Hopper (R. Golden) and Williams
<br />that small operators be exempt (ram all
<br />reclamation requirements. The only ex-
<br />ception would be i(a mine were located
<br />next t0 a stream or if miners were using
<br />toxic chemicals.
<br />Mosch says the sooner small mines are
<br />exempt the better. Since the smaller
<br />claims are frequently intermingled with
<br />population developments, recreational
<br />Facilities and other businesses. he fends it
<br />unreasonable to require smaller miners (o
<br />return the land to "pristine" status. "I['s
<br />unfair to burden these small Mom and
<br />Pop mines with the requirement to be
<br />reclaimed to a pdstinecondition when the
<br />surrounding area includes asplit-les•el
<br />house with a septic tank and a satellite
<br />dish built on a patented mining claim,"
<br />he argues.
<br />Williams and Hopper agree. "We've got
<br />to encourage these small miners in (heir
<br />enterprises," Hopper says. "With the way
<br />the economy is now, and the price of
<br />silver and gold, they're the only ortcs who
<br />may be able to do profitable mining."
<br />Williams says the Legislature needs to
<br />"reduce governmental inttrentt with
<br />small mining operations. l'd like to see the
<br />state less o(a regulator and more like a
<br />partner with the miners."
<br />Senate President Ted Strickland hps
<br />given Hopper"perthission to Introduce a
<br />late bill that would help the state's small
<br />fall.'Both Williams and Hopper
<br />'FS Pot t1l,favor,-Rf.dojpgp_way,
<br />$u(itionf, ®fiRry. '~In~ •: .:~
<br />peed lobo P!44~.Rtfd(S9lm
<br />{Fc!~9F.,gtjnntg. Hu,~b. oq ' r
<br />c 4}te raga ations cominensurale
<br />size of the ~~~ pp.'
<br />w~rile. Mosch is olhen--'"
<br />tiers in the state into; formal lob
<br />ping politics is noC'liis idea of a
<br />m, however. He lays Re dFathv '+
<br />longto Wpr~' t~yt has
<br />iy~familr rt atio•~-~y, '~ ~s
<br />e~r.~iw.......~
<br />ONAL VAu~ES~e~~~rr''-.``-
<br />IIrSSrENaDININD F .
<br />,29 roan c,acc Fi. i,
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<br />59 fl9 99 i
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<br />I OAK ~ m.zaos,39:
<br />:i:~-GeAg.C6eA[u~p.~q.-?2~'. 1 t
<br />By Andrew Simons
<br />-e? Phom br tsnda Krkbel
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