More and better communication a goal

The first step in a new community movement to seek shared “community values” was held at Maxwell’s on Monday morning. Crested Butte town manager Todd Crossett and Mt. Crested Butte-Crested Butte Chamber of Commerce director Dan Marshall welcomed more than 70 people to participate in the three-hour meeting. Read More »

U.S.E. no fan of HCCA

As might be expected, U.S. Energy was not happy with the decision by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to suspend its decision allowing the company to pursue a Voluntary Clean-up Program (VCUP) with the historic Keystone Mine site on Mt. Emmons just west of Crested Butte. Read More »

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.

How will future talks be structured?

Town of Crested Butte officials felt more than a little tricked the day after Halloween when they learned on Friday, November 1 that Mt. Emmons mine company owner U.S. Energy had quietly received approval from a state agency to literally put a plug in the current molybdenum mine exploration activity and walk away from the existing wastewater treatment plant. Read More »

Schmidt, Mason and Ladoulis get seats

In the end, this election wasn’t as close as anticipated by most Crested Butte voters, but the turnout was huge. Aaron Huckstep was reelected as mayor of Crested Butte over challenger Jeremy Rubingh by a count of 429 to 283 votes. Huckstep had run unopposed for the position two years ago. Elected to four year terms on the town council were Jim Schmidt, Roland Mason and Chris Ladoulis. Read More »

This is the final week of questions posed to the seven candidates running for Crested Butte town council. We gave them a chance to address any issue they felt was left hanging out there and a reader wanted a specific goal they would have if elected. We also wanted to let you know what houses your little trick or treaters should hit Thursday night.

—Mark Reaman Read More »

Balance, traffic flow, Red Lady and HCCA

(Editor’s note: Given the length of the forum and candidate responses, we are breaking the report on the Candidates’ Forum into two stories. This is part one. Next week, we will print the rest of the story, which includes thoughts on sustainability, sales tax and a plastic bag ban…)

For almost two hours on Wednesday, October 9, seven Crested Butte citizens hoping to be representatives on the Town Council answered questions from the public. Local citizens—people who have lived in the area from two weeks to 40 years—wanted to know about parking and traffic fixes, sales tax, a potential plastic bag ban, a possible mine, how the council can promote more sustainability and how council meetings can be briefer. What wasn’t asked was anything about the ski area or retail marijuana outlets.

Read More »

Sales tax up but Open Space fund down
The second quarter of the year looks mostly healthy for the town from a financial perspective. Most revenues so far this year are higher than anticipated—due to more sales tax being collected, more tap fees coming in and more construction permits being issued. One area where revenues are down is the real estate transfer tax (RETT) that helps fund open space and some capital projects. Town finance director Lois Rozman expects to make the budget, but warned the council that the RETT funds are well below where they were just a few years ago. Read More »

Temporary spigot should hold until permanent fix in October

The spigot that the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (CDRMS) installed on the pipe projecting contaminated water from an artesian well in the Redwell Basin on the northwest side of Mt. Emmons is holding. Read More »

Some weeks there is lots of news. Other weeks, it is pretty lean. Early August was lean. It appears to be fattening up. A few examples…

—Holy guacamole. The Crested Butte Community School is bursting at the seams…this just three years after a major expansion. So people appear to like it enough here that they are moving their families to the valley. The school is one big reason our population base is increasing. The CBCS is a quality learning institution that provides a top-notch education for those hoping to move on to the country’s finest universities. It is probably one of the biggest draws for people moving here and it is becoming too small. With another 10 percent increase in enrollment, it won’t be long before another expansion will be needed—or those mobile classrooms will have to return.

—The Mountain Bike Hall of Fame is departing Crested Butte. There’s something odd about that. Maybe as a local mountain biker, I took it too much for granted and I shouldn’t have. After talking to Hall of Fame co-director Don Cook this week, I understand the decision. I don’t like that it is moving but it might actually help the sport’s exposure by relocating to northern California. Thanks to those who have maintained it here in the valley throughout the decades and good luck as it moves to a new home in Marin County.

—U.S. Energy Corporation, the owners of the molybdenum mining rights on Red Lady, are publicly talking up the potential of a mine on Mt. Emmons. It appears they really want to sell the “opportunity” of a mine. In a conference call with investors last week, company executives said they expect to have Forest Service approval for the mine through NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act). They said they hope to be fully permitted in three or four years. They insinuated they’ve had some nibbles of interest from real miners that may want to take on the project. Sure. It just seems USE shouldn’t expect any sort of easy NEPA process from this community and if they expect to be fully permitted in three years, they’re dreaming. Even if they eventually do get mining permits from the feds, the price of moly better skyrocket to pay for the billion dollar start-up costs involved. The last “real” miner they partnered with, Thompson Creek, came, saw, spent and ran after getting a feel for the real situation. Smart mining company.

—The monsoons are here but the lakes aren’t filling. The moisture is a blessing but Blue Mesa is still really low so understand that the drought conditions haven’t totally evaporated. We have a long way to go. Hopefully we’ll be able to fill the Mesa next spring from the copious amount of snow we receive this winter.