GRAPPLING OVER GRAVEL Windsor company plans mining site in Larimer County

Sherrie Peif, (Bio) speif@mywindsornow.com
April 30, 2008

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Not a lot has changed since Fred Flintstone made a career for himself at the Slade Gravelpit.

In fact, gravel mining is becoming more and more important as population increases and highways become heavily traveled.

But the idea of sand and gravel mining isn't always appealing, especially when the pit area sits a few hundred feet from exclusive homes and wildlife areas.

So when SerFer Land Ventures, LLC through Connell Resources out of Windsor, applied for the annexation of 44 acres of property at the southwest corner of Colo. 392 and Larimer County Road 13 into Windsor, it was only a matter of time before homeowners in the River West subdivision south of the land started asking questions.

"There is an immediate impact on the quality of life for residents and wildlife here," said River West resident Dan Stutzmann about the project that is expected to take four years. "And we don't know what the long term (impact) will be. I don't believe there is adequate control over what the ultimate end product will be."

Most people familiar with the industry, however, believe there are many regulatory agencies who can help control everything from the noise and dust to the final product.

Carl Mount, senior environmental protection specialist for the Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety -- a division of the department of natural resources for the State of Colorado -- said many things are considered before the state will issue a mining permit.

Most importantly, he said, the division must approve a reclamation plan that addresses how a company will mine, where the materials will be stockpiled and what the reclamation will be at the end.

In Connell's case, that includes a lake and an expanded wildlife area.

"Then they have to put up a monetary bond to ensure that reclamation plan can be held up by the state if Connell can't finish it for whatever reason," Mount said.

To date, Connell has held two public open houses to explain its plan with residents. Representatives have explained hours of operation, noise control plans, dust control plans, length of mining and how the company plans to return the area when it is finished.

What is confusing many, however, is what Windsor's role is in the process.

Mining for gravel is as equally protected under state laws as natural gas or oil, said Bill Hoyt, director of the school chemistry, earth sciences and physics for the University of Northern Colorado.

"Either surface (gravel and soil) or subsurface (oil) mineral rights -- the law treats them very similarly," Hoyt said. "Owners do have the rights to those minerals."

Windsor's role would only be to help control aesthetics, hours and landscaping to help mitigate any problems.

Hoyt called gravel mining the backbone of our society.

"Every foundation, every sidewalk, every building -- you can't do our construction without it," he said. "Basically, the issue is concrete. We need to have that sand and gravel aggregate. You don't get anything without it. It can't be trucked it in from Saudi Arabia or even Nebraska. It must be local because the cost of trucking it is just exorbitant."

Hoyt said every man, woman and child requires tons of sand and gravel each year to live.

Stutzmann, whose property backs up to the Poudre River adjacent to the land, is concerned about the impact the mining will have on the area wildlife. When he purchased his home less than a year ago, part of the attraction was the wildlife he could see from his back yard.

That's where the Colorado Division of Wildlife comes in. It, too, gets a say in how the process plays out.

Larry Rogstad, area wildlife manager for south Larimer, south Weld and Boulder counties said the wildlife after a gravel mining operation can be just as abundant as before, if it's done right.

"Habitat is going to change there," Rogstad said. "Depending on success of reclamation, it could return to be a productive habitat or it could take a number of years for the plan to mature where there is a recovery of the habitat."

But the DOW implements policies before the mining starts so as not to disturb anything that is protected by the state. In the case of Colo. 392 and Larimer 13, the black tail prairie dog, although not protected, is part of the ecosystem surrounding the endangered burrowing owls in the area. So steps will be taken to ensure nesting abilities remain the same throughout the process.

"Usually, mines sit back from the habitat," Rogstad said.

Also a concern for residents is a planned lake for the area as part of the reclamation. Stutzmann said without someone stepping up to lease the holding lake now, he can't be guaranteed that a lake will ever exist.

"It could just end up being a mud puddle," he said.

Mount said that is unlikely to happen.

"It's very common (to begin a project without a lease on the holding lake), but not very hard to find someone to lease it," Mount said. "We live in semi-arid climate. And everybody wants to have a bucket to work out of."

Connell has proposed a wildlife easement along the Poudre to return it to more a natural state for the DOW, a 400-foot wildlife corridor and a 30-acre reservoir, said John Warren, construction manager for Connell. The company will operate the mine from about 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and some Saturdays with no Sunday or holiday operation. Connell also plans to pave a stretch of road leading from Larimer 13 to the scale on site to mitigate dust and then remove the road when the project is over. Connell's lease on the property is for four years, but they hope to be out sooner.

"We want to be a good neighbor," Warren said. "Our offices are here in Windsor and we can understand the concerns of the neighbors. That's why we're having the open houses."

The Windsor Town Board has seen only preliminary information on the plan and will vote later this spring or summer on the annexation following all the appropriate public hearings.

Stutzmann remains hopeful that something can be done to lesson the impact on the area.

"If we can't stop it, at least maybe we can regulate it to where it's palatable," he said.