2008-02-22_APPLICATION CORRESPONDENCE - C2008086 (39)

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CHAPTERFOUR Environmental Consequences and Mitigation medical emergencies. Residents also use additional means of expressing their safety concerns, such as the daily frequency of the train and school bus interactions, specifically the proposed grade crossing near the County Roads 10 and M8 intersections, and on-going disruptions of routine traffic routes to which they have become accustomed. Residents readily indicate that an underpass (for both County Roads M 8 and 10) would be appropriate solutions, since it seems most apparent to them that having the train spur cross county roads in several locations could increase accidents with school buses and limit access for emergencies. An Industrial Corridor: At a somewhat larger scale in terms of land use impacts on the community, the building of the rail spur within a rural landscape is looked at as an industrial intrusion. The concern is expressed in terms of creating an "industrial corridor" within an existing residential area. Some residents have countered that the Union Pacific rail line along I-70 already exists, and there was a previous train route (the Uintah Railway) to a gilsonite mine on Bauer Pass, somewhat further to the northwest of the proposed Red Cliff Mine. Some residents anticipate that the rail spur will over time create a wider zone, industrial in nature, which will attract associated commercial uses and functions. Much of this social impact, which is related to future real estate developments, is highly anticipatory because a number of the residents also feel they do not have clear and trustworthy information about future land use developments that might bring about additional incompatible industrial or semi-industrial uses. Company Relations with the Community: A number of residents express resentment towards the mining company, CAM. They speak of poor or inadequate information from CAM about its project development intentions. They express anger over the company's way of doing business, which appears to some to indicate disregard for the concerns of the community, to be unresponsive, and to have limited community understandings about future plans. While in some respects these descriptions might be viewed as noting ordinary or normal business practice, in a rural community environment where the various impacts of a large scale development are seen as life changing, what is viewed as a serious lack of information and open communications has already increased mistrust among the residents. The issue of poor company relations or communications with the affected community compounds a number of other social impacts since it creates the appearance, at least to the community, that the company does not respect their concerns about rural values, transportation safety, and a variety of other social consequences. Employment and Income Table 4-2, Red Cliff Mine, Estimated Construction Employment, shows the estimated number of employees (full-time equivalents) that would be working on construction of the mine facilities, the railroad spur, and related facilities. The estimates are based primarily on information in the proposed action, although several categories were estimated independently. The Earth Moving category includes all earth-moving equipment operators, supporting equipment operators, laborers, and supervisors involved in the cut-and-fill earthwork necessary to prepare the railroad track bed and to implement measures to minimize soil erosion and reclaim the disturbance. The Bridges and Culverts category includes all equipment operators, truck drivers, laborers, and supervisors needed to deliver and install bridges and culverts along the length of the railroad spur. The Track category includes all equipment operators, truck drivers, laborers, and 4-15 DBMS 570