A wolf in wolf’s clothing…

The mine issue blew up over the weekend. Through some quick local action and common sense review by the state, the situation appears to have calmed. It is all ultimately enlightening but the communal blood pressure sure went up fast. Understandably.

Let’s try to remember some of the realities.

• U.S. Energy is hoping to make money—a lot of money—with the their rights to the high-grade molybdenum in Mt. Emmons.
• As has been pointed out, U.S. Energy is a corporation whose primary purpose is to return money to their shareholders.
• U.S. Energy stock has done quite well this fall, going from under $2 per share to about $3.19 per share on Tuesday.
• U.S. Energy does not want to run a wastewater treatment plant because it costs well over $1 million a year to operate.
• I don’t think it would be out of line to state that U.S. Energy makes decisions not based on general community welfare but on money. That is what a corporation does. They’ve never said otherwise that I can remember.
• Real miners of molybdenum and financial analysts of such hard-rock mining have seemed to conclude that the infrastructure costs of putting in a mine on Red Lady is prohibitive—at least until the price of moly rises substantially. I don’t think anyone who looks at this situation expects a mine anytime soon anywhere near here.
• U.S. Energy slyly went and got a state approval (it has since been suspended) to do a voluntary clean-up plan (VCUP). Sounds so benign. But the reality is that the application calls for a plug in the mine adits and tear-down of the water treatment plant that has kept Coal Creek relatively healthy and not the orange poison conduit it was 35 years ago. This VCUP idea would be an expensive project costing probably tens of millions of dollars. That says something from the corporation.

Now, on the community side, the Town Council seemed hurt and surprised that the guys they’d been chatting up about a potential solution went behind their back and filed for a state VCUP without telling them. Other interested parties in the issue were plenty upset with the move as well. Rightfully so. The general feeling was that the state should have alerted nearby parties that would be impacted by such a move.
The state took the application at face value and determined, based on the information provided by U.S. Energy, a VCUP was appropriate. They said the application fit the parameters of such an action.
After hearing from myriad concerned individuals and organizations, the state “suspended” that approval and will be evaluating new “readily available” information. Now the town, HCCA and RLC and others must supply the state with the facts of a VCUP of this magnitude, given the hydrologic realities of that mountain, that mine, and this community.
The state folks deserve credit for stepping back and agreeing to reevaluate that decision based on a more complete picture. It’s up to our representatives to give them the facts.
So that’s where we are. On the surface, it probably sounded good. It’s not. It appeared the sky started to fall on Friday when people around here discovered the VCUP approval. This move by the mine would not enhance our community and in fact could have damaged it quickly and permanently. There is a good chance implementing this VCUP plan could someday soon poison the upper valley. Water studies show how porous that mountain is. The treatment plant is a need, not a want, for the upper valley.

So the short of it: U.S. Energy is a wolf in wolf’s clothing. Don’t forget that.
It seems obvious the miners want out. They don’t like the liability of operating the wastewater treatment plant.
If there were any chance of a partner on the nearby horizon, they wouldn’t be pursuing this VCUP route. I remain comforted by the decision of legitimate moly miner Thompson Creek to pull out of here after spending millions of dollars looking at the situation. With a billion dollars in new infrastructure needed, I don’t think the community should fear a mine any time soon.
But…the best thing would be to get the threat of a future mine out of our realm. Toward that end, the town and other partners must do a better job of communicating with one another. Even the good cop needs to talk to the bad cop to make sure they are on the same page. We are supposed to be on the same page after all.

If U.S. Energy wants out, we should help them. But it will take honest and open dialogue and this latest incident should remind us of that as we move forward.

P.S. Congratulations to Huck, Deli, Roland and Chris for being elected to the Crested Butte town council. Those numbers were bigger and the gap wider than most expected. One thing it does do in relation to the mine issue is provide the opportunity to temper some volatility and have someone like Ladoulis be the council’s point person if and (maybe) when U.S. Energy wants to resume “talks” with the town. That should ease some of the concern brought up during the election by sitting councilmembers and town partners on this issue.