CB hires special counsel to deal with U.S. Energy VCUP proposal

“The Town Council has not been involved in communicating with the state on the VCUP because of the quasi-judicial role that the Town Council could play should U.S. Energy seek to implement the VCUP on account of the Town Council’s regulatory authority under its Watershed Protection District Regulations,” Crested Butte town attorney John Belkin explained. “It is for this reason that the town has engaged special counsel Barbara Green to correspond directly with the state on the VCUP matter.” Green specializes in environmental law and has done work for the town in the past. The town has also hired an environmental consultant, Paul Casey of Casey Resources, Inc., to look over the application. U.S. Energy, the mining company legally responsible for treating contaminated water coming from the Keystone mine on Mt. Emmons (a.k.a., Red Lady), has submitted an application to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) to be given permission to implement the VCUP. Basically, U.S. Energy is asking to decommission the current water treatment plant and plug the Keystone mine adits and use a passive water treatment system to clean the water. Several local watchdog groups including the Red Lady Coalition, High Country Conservation Advocates and the Coal Creek Watershed Coalition, have expressed concern over the thin monitoring and contingency plans submitted as part of the application. The town too has expressed the need for more information on the proposal and the desire for clarification with jurisdictional aspects of the plan before the company can be given the go-ahead for a VCUP. Crested Butte is primarily concerned with the end result of water quality coming from the mine since it could impact the town’s drinking water supply. In Green’s letter to the CDPHE, she wrote, “…we think the application raises knotty jurisdictional questions that must be unraveled before the State can seriously consider a proposal to convert any of US Energy’s existing regulatory obligations into ‘voluntary’ measures.” “At this point, there are so many technical questions about the nature of the measures being proposed in the VCUP that we would like to reserve the right to submit more detailed comments after these questions are answered. Water quality protection is of paramount importance to the Town and Gunnison County,” Green’s letter states. The town makes it clear that any proposed change to the existing treatment system or modification to any current regulation or requirement “warrants intense scrutiny from State agencies, the Town and County, and the public.” “Rest assured that the Town’s legal counsel is engaged with the state, and at this point is pleased to see all the state agencies giving this the attention that they have,” said Belkin. The CDPHE has indicated it will request more information from U.S. Energy about its proposal before considering the VCUP application. On a side note, the Forest Service is reviewing a plan from U.S. Energy to move forward with its desire to eventually establish a molybdenum mine on Red Lady. “The Forest Service is reviewing a proposed plan of operations (PoO) from USE to gather groundwater and associated baseline data,” Forest Service spokesperson Lee Ann Loupe wrote in an email to the Crested Butte News in response to an inquiry. “Additional information has been requested of USE and will be incorporated into this PoO (separate from the mine development PoO).” This work would entail NEPA analysis and documentation before any ground-disturbing activity occurs toward data collection.”