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iii iiiiiiiiniu iii ~ rliPEN T16W6 abCpen, CO (Pitkin County) Thu, 8,787 COLORADO PRESS CLIPPING SERVICE 303.571.5117 +a>s cmrim aru • aar•r, co ro:a Gravel pit owner finds that honesty can l~ BY Cameron M. Bums Aspen Trmes Sral! Wrirer Bill Roberts, owner/operator of the Western Slope Aggregate gravel pit near Carbondale, is learning that going by the book can present an honest btLSinessman with something of a rocky road. This week, Roberts went before the State Mined landReclamation Board to explain not only that he was diligently working to make sure his gravel pit was oper- ating by the book, but that mining disturbances outside his pemritted boundaries were rwt his, but his landlord's. Still, under state laws, Roberts is responsible, even though the disturbances made by the landlord were on Are landlord's own (and. This seemingly complex and convoluted storlt began wlirn Roberts bought the graver pit ~m~ite Zemlock family in August 1992, and took over as operator.'The pit is 11X1 acres in size and is surround- ed by ranch lands that are privately owned by the Blue family. The Blues, in turn, lease the land to pit operators. Roberts, after about a year as owner of the pit, noticed that the state- permitted boundary for the pit didri t seem quite right, and contacted the state Divi- sion of Minerals and Geology. The state suggested he get a survey done, which Roberts did in July 1993, fol- lowed by a state inspection in October. What happened with the slaking of the pit, said Mount, was "confusion" by both the Zemlocks and Roberts as to whether a ridge on the western side of the pit was the state-permitted boundary for gravel dig- ging operations, or whedrer the boundary was an old fence, just past the ridge. It turned out to be the ridge, not thefencc. Slate officials were also asked to examine Rvo areas where topsoil had been removed just outside the per- mitted gravel piPs48tnula(ies. Under s1~fi 1q~g few, Roberts is not allowed to .r . ead to trouble "For someone to do this (announce his own violations) doesn't happen all the time. We sure appreciate it when it does." -Carl Mount, Colorado Division of Minerals and Geobgy go outside the permit boundaries, and, hence, was breaking the law. -'- B'dt according to AoUeris, ihe~opsoil was actdally removed by Gene Blue, owner of the ranch. Blue, working inside Roberts leased and permitted area, had then expanded his topsoil work beyond that area onto land he -Blue -himself owned. Because of that expansion, Roberts - the pcrtnit holder -was in vio- lation of state laws. "It puts me in a precarious kind of situation, but it's easily taken care of," Roberts told The Aspen Times Wednesday afternoon, before he was slated to appear before the Mined land Reclamation Board, which would decide on his fate. Regardless of who did what and where, the infrao- Lions were considered minor by the Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board this week, and Roberts, who has been working hard to rectify the problems and make his gravel pit a "real spiff operation," was not fined a civil penalty. "We recommend leniency of the board when this happens;' said Mount about Roberts' contacting the state. "For someone to do this (announce his own vio- lations) doesn't happen all the time. We sure appreciate it when it does."