GENERAL51771

• Permit No: M1977210
• IBM Index Class Name: General Documents
• Doc Name: NEWSPAPER CLIPPINGS
• Media Type: D
• Archive: No

Mining Snyder -
fouling our own nest
It appears that Casde Concrete
is at it again. The perpetrators of the
infamous Queen's Canyon "scar"
now plan to cut off a couple more -
mountain tops here in Manitott~:
while trasfiing a flit of1'ViIGSin's
anyon m e process. Not w
worry! ~tle~oncrete~ropes to
Cmish the work by the year 2023,
when they may use the mtiung site
as a forest wildlife habitat. S uch use
of the site is, of course, dependent
upon the sort of wildl fife that thrives
_upon barren rock. The Sahazan
sand viper and the Gobi gravel Irz-
azd ve n suggesied-'
Acwrding to the April 7 edi-
tion of theJoumal, Casde Concrete
has requested the State Mined Land
Rechtmation Board to give them an
amendment allowing the Snyder
Quarry to be extended nine addi-
tional acres. This wiB allow the
extraction of much more limestone.
Limestone is wonderful stuff for
making building foundations. Any-
one familiar with the Pikes Peak
region real estate market under-
stands the dire need for more
houses here.
Uonically, one of the ar~u-
mcnts supporting the 1974 court
or er au onztng a operation of
e ny er uarry was at e
work site would be barely visible w
community. Just ask any [rav-
elcronHtg watt-2dy or anyresi ent
-oT tie West St a or ariitou how
visible the quazry is. Visibility in-
creases dramatically during high
winds or when bhtsting occurs. At
those times clouds of silica go
hundreds of feet into the air. These
fine particles of silica (the same
stuff that causes silicosis or
"miner's lung's then drift down
over the homes along Fountain
Creek
• One_ ofthefewrelativelystable •
economic props of our region is.
tourism. Il stands to reason that if
we continue to foul our own nests
by ravaging our mountains
(Queen's Canyon, Waldo Canyon
_ and now Snyder Quany), the tour-
_ fists will not have much reason~to
come here I am sure the Chicago
owners of the Snyder Quarry could
not`eaie less about the fuuueot
_-tourism in tli8~es Peak region.
Their'only interesCis sellicig mole
limestone. It is therefore up to us the
residents to do something to stop
this deswcdon.
Thank you.
Frank Floret'
Waldo -progress or
destruction?
I have been following the
Waldo Canyon reports, but I have
to admit to being more than non-
plussed about one aspect. As I
understand it, a county permit is-
sued one and a half decades ago
united gr~a 'v tme ml ng to 41/2 acres,
an on y to m e e site suitable
fordevelopment. How,inthename
of all that's rational, can this com-
pany be allowed w get by with this
3reacti of permit? Eave our le al
processes become so worthless that
no agreement means anythin an -
- s--y-'
more? The Threat byAnderson of
litigation against the commission-
ers if they try to revoke or add
restrictions to the permit is outra-
geous.
Everyday I am sickened by the
steady deterioration of this state,
country, and planet. Wherever you
look we are wreaking havoc on the
environment in which we must live
and upon the vanishing habitat of
all the other creatures who are un-
fortunate (or perhaps fortunate)
enough not to be a member of our
privileged species. From oil, sew-
age,plastic and fishnetpollution oC
the oceans, drainage of wedands
and river diversion, wholesale ille-
gal slaughter oC wildlife for profit,
denuding lands of they forests, w
the very quality of our precipita-
tion,soil and strand the impending
take-over of all habitable and even
uninliabitable space and resources
for the benefit of only one species,
future mankind will know that we
have been the source of our own
impoverishment
The important thing to be
aware of is that most of the changes
thatwehavebroughtabouthavenot
been cataclysmic but rather small-
scaleand gradual and have resulted
in disruption and deswction which
in themselves were considered
excusable but taken together are
transforming the face of the land
locally, nationally, and internation-
ally.In abrief 200 yearsand most of
it occurring in the last half-century
we have rendered Ltrgely unrecog-
nizable this once unspoiled, un-
soiled, wildlife-rich paradise... the
United States of America
Will our "progress" and devel-
opment go on until there is nothing
worthwhile left to despoil? And
would someone please explain to
me this strange permit that allows a
company to write its own rules?
Amite G. Browm
;: .
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