The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Helicopters flying from sunrise to sunset?
The local environmental organization, High Country Citizens’ Alliance (HCCA), has formally protested the latest plan by the Mt. Emmons Moly Company and U.S. Energy Corp. to conduct studies around the proposed molybdenum mine just west of Crested Butte on Mt. Emmons.
The mine filed a Plan of Operations (PoO) for Surface Disturbing Baseline Studies on March 31. The company wants to gather data through soil samples, water monitoring and geotechnical data. They plan on starting the tests in the summer of 2011.
HCCA’s protest states the plan filed with the Forest Service is not complete. HCCA has concerns about the effectiveness of the studies and contends the proposed action will have major effects on nearby people, wildlife and the surrounding forest.
In a letter to Grand Mesa, Uncompahgre and Gunnison National Forests (GMUG) Deputy Forest Supervisor Sherry Hazelhurst, HCCA Executive Director Dan Morse asks the federal agency to demand much more detail in the plan and conduct a proper NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) analysis. “This process should include scoping and comment periods designed to elicit substantial public involvement and comment,” the HCCA letter states.
Morse said the plan was submitted in part to satisfy a water right decree granted in 2002 that stipulated the mining company had to submit a detailed mining plan of operations by April 2, 2010. HCCA feels that this latest submission does not meet the requirement.
“…It is apparent from both the title and content of the PoO Application, the application proposes a plan for baseline studies and not a ‘plan of operations’ for the proposed Mount Emmons Mine,” the letter states.
“The agency has to make up its mind and determine what this is,” Morse said. “Is it a mining plan or a baseline study plan? And if it’s a baseline plan, it has some glaring deficiencies.”
According to Morse and HCCA, the tests proposed by the mining company would affect, people, plants and wildlife, and the Forest Service should make every effort at minimizing those effects. According to the protest letter, “Another aspect of the timing of the proposed activities is the fact that helicopter usage, drilling operations and pit excavation are proposed to take place seven days a week from sunrise to sunset. This proposed schedule means that nearby residents, recreationists, hunters and wildlife populations could be subjected to nearly constant daytime noise for periods of up to 14 consecutive days or perhaps longer. The likely impacts of this schedule are undesirable.”
Morse said HCCA had suggested helicopter use could be appropriate for conducting tests in roadless areas, but the environmental organization insisted that mitigation of impacts be a priority for the Forest Service.
“To their credit, they designed a plan that uses helicopters to access roadless areas,” Morse said Tuesday. “That was one suggestion we liked. But helicopter noise from sunrise to sunset, seven days a week, in the tourist scene has a big impact. There needs to be ways to mitigate that. If and when they get to an adequate baseline studies plan, there has to be ways to mitigate helicopter and drilling rig use. That is all a big if.”
In the letter, Morse asks that the Forest Service not forget the major recreation economy in the area. “Last, there is a high level of recreation use on Forest Lands in the proposed study area during all seasons,” Morse writes. “The presence of personnel and equipment during a large part of the summer and fall seasons has the potential to diminish recreation experiences for activities such as hiking, skiing, snowmobiling, mountain biking, scenic driving, fishing, wildlife and bird watching and hunting. All of the resources above—as well as a host of others—will require detailed consideration of alternative approaches, impacts analysis of the preferred methods, strong mitigations and transparent public disclosure when or if a complete and adequate plan of operations for the mine project is submitted.”
Morse in the letter says there is a concern that the company wants to piecemeal the mine approval. “In addition, the ambiguity of the character of the POO Application as both a plan for baseline studies and a mine plan appears to be an attempt by [the mine company] to force the USFS and Bureau of Land Management [BLM] to segment the analysis of impacts associated with the mine project under the National Environmental Policy Act [NEPA].”
The 14-page letter also touches on concerns over the effects on wilderness and roadless areas, financial guarantees, approvals for other regulatory agencies including the town of Crested Butte and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the water rights issue.
Mount Emmons Project Director of Community Relations Perry Anderson was out of the office and not available for comment.
