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<br />Environmental News
<br />Climax revives Kebler Pass mine plan AB Lateral denied again
<br />The Climax Molybdenum Company
<br />applied Jan. 15, 1997 for conditional
<br />water rights to build a 10,000 ton per day
<br />mine and mill an the Kebler Pass Road,
<br />approximately half way between the pass
<br />and the town of Crested Butte.
<br />Climax Molybdenum, a subsidiary of
<br />multinational mining conglomerate Cypnts
<br />Amax, also fled papers with Gumison
<br />County is January showing plans'to draw
<br />water from Slate Creek at the Oh-Be-
<br />Joyful confltrence, Elk Creek and Catiwn
<br />Cr«k. Three reservoirs ate planned of
<br />.1,000 sae-f«t each, plus a 2,000 acre-foot
<br />tailings and sludge pond, and numerous
<br />pipelines and made along the eastern edge.
<br />of the Raggeds V~l'ilderness.
<br />WSERC has joined with the High
<br />Country Citizens Alliance in Crested
<br />Butte to file oppositiori to the water rights
<br />application. Our filing, as with similar
<br />protests by neighboring landowners and
<br />local governments in Gunnison County,
<br />states that the water rights application is
<br />"speculative" and should be denied under
<br />Colorado water law.
<br />"In today's markerconditions Climax
<br />could never put this water to beneficial
<br />use;' says HCCA water expert Steve
<br />Glazer. "They've got the can before the
<br />horse. They fast need to show that they
<br />have a viable mine plan and an economi-
<br />cally marketable ore deposit."
<br />Since Climax abandoned its original
<br />plan to mine Mt. Emmons in 1981, it has
<br />also closed its big open pit mine in
<br />Leadville and is now operating it's giant
<br />Henderson mine near Silverthome az 1/3
<br />capacity .
<br />With no change in sight for the moly
<br />market, there is some skepticism about
<br />Climax's ultimate goal: Glazer points out
<br />that Climax has also applied for water rights
<br />for municipal and landscaping purpous.
<br />In 1995, he adds, Climax also applied
<br />to the BLM to patent (privatize) hundreds
<br />of acres of mining claims on public land
<br />in the Crested Butte mountains: Under the
<br />1872 mining law, Climax could obtain the
<br />claims for just E2.50 per acre. However,
<br />the application was opposed by HCCA,
<br />.and is currently being held up by a tem-
<br />porary moratorium on mining patents.
<br />-Steve Hincitman
<br />A recent d«ition by the Atmy Crops
<br />of Engineers will force. the AB Lateral
<br />hydroelectric project back to square one.
<br />. m January, the Gasps. ordered. the
<br />UocomQahgie. Water Users'to .witMraw
<br />their 404 appl;txtion and redesigathe bank
<br />protection: and' miGgauon; plea fer:.die
<br />Unrnmpahgrq River. Fuittieimaae the,
<br />Carps and the Bataan of ReclamaGOa have
<br />agreed that the revised piojecf most: under
<br />go.a sirppletuental'amlysis and a uevv EIS.
<br />.:.The AB`I'ateal'woukt.divat_warn
<br />West Elk coal mine flood scare
<br />Mother narure recently visited a
<br />"humbling experience" upon Mountain
<br />Coal's West Elk Mine, says environmen-
<br />tal supervisor Kathy Welt
<br />Exploration crews at the giant under-
<br />ground mine north of Somerset hit a
<br />water filled geological fault on Monday,
<br />7anuary 20, ar 10:30 a.m. The leak started
<br />as a trickle, then quickly peaked az 7,600
<br />gallons per minute. Emergency prose=
<br />dares were implemented and no workers
<br />were injured; some equipment was lost
<br />At first water filled the floor of the
<br />mine, where it became contaminated with
<br />clay, partings of rock, and coal dust This
<br />dirty water was pumped into the mine's
<br />regular settling ponds, which carved
<br />effectively until Friday, January 24, at
<br />3:00. Then the increasing flow. over-
<br />whelmed the ponds and began to spill into
<br />the North Fork Rivet
<br />State requirements limit water effluent
<br />to 70 milligrams of particulates per liter of
<br />water. Compliance with this requirement
<br />failed through the w«kend, when particu-
<br />lates reached Icvels of 85 to 95 mg/I.
<br />By early Tuesday, Jan.'28, particulars
<br />levels had dropped within legal limits. To
<br />further minimize pollution, West Elk engi-
<br />neers tapped into the leak as close to Use
<br />source as possible, eliminating most of the
<br />wnrar„~r~on from the mine floor. That
<br />dropped particulate to undo 20 mg/I.,
<br />This direct'discharge continued for 9
<br />days. Some gr«nish appcarmce and sul-
<br />fur odor was occasionally apparent, but
<br />Welt says the aeration of the spillway
<br />removes dissolved gasses. Water at the
<br />rivu s«ms to be clean and odor free.
<br />Officials also immediately notified
<br />Oxbow Carbon and Minerals, which sup-
<br />plies drinlfing water for workers in their
<br />own plant and for Somerxt residents. The
<br />Arno discharge point is just upstream of
<br />the Oxbow intake valves. According to
<br />Tom Anderson, environmental coordina-
<br />tor for Oxbow. their water purification
<br />systems handled the increased particula[es
<br />and wazer quality was not compromised.
<br />By Jan. 31, the spill had dropped to
<br />under 1,700 gallons per minute, or 3.3
<br />cubic f«t per second. Temperatures were
<br />a ttmnel'to tiabiaes.on_rhe iTnoompaliga
<br />Rive. m.lvionntite. On_t1ie.,Grmmsao.'tbe
<br />Rojas would.dry up the lisficy sad; .tear
<br />anon utduscy:Even woise ate tBelloodsttiat
<br />would rewli ou the Ui>o~patigr~;,;u{ikro
<br />25 tones tt5 htstme itow.~,: ". ;aL,~.,
<br />~p
<br />Inst. yeai WSERC'Qganiud rivu
<br />landowners, a'.feam:of voluo0eei- hydrtilo-
<br />A ...
<br />gist,. erd_ t1re: Sieaa'Cluli;~. Defense
<br />Fund to 1fle a iioticb of iutenfto`we ifertber
<br />`fleoddamt~6°_e>rdPt°P.~7!iI.°s~s'..: J
<br />measured az 88' F az the source, but cooled
<br />to under 65' where it entered the river.
<br />With the Noah Fork ronning az close
<br />to 350 cfs and 33', mine officials were not
<br />able to identify measurable impacts.
<br />Temperature readings taken 100 feet
<br />above and below the spillway show no
<br />difference in water temperature. Aquatic
<br />life surveys ate still being analyzed, but
<br />preliminary biologic testing on arthropods
<br />and fat head minnows shows oo apparent
<br />toxicity. More tests ate expected, and a'
<br />geothemtal water expert has taken sam-
<br />ples of the water They suspect the ratise
<br />was a vertical fault full of ancient water.
<br />On Feb. 7 the flow dropped to under
<br />800 gallons per minute, add flows wets
<br />again air«red into the settling ponds.
<br />Although not a disaster, the experience
<br />was a bit of a shock for mine staff. No
<br />dint of the water. was found in the
<br />exploratory drilling; the mine had no way.
<br />of knowing it was there. The mine contin-
<br />ues to extract tonnage from the long wall
<br />at a record rate, and no changes are
<br />expected in exploration.
<br />-Tam Miller
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