Surf disco State of the Hot Springs plays statewide water Pool opens Mountain Air plan 50¢ P24 P12 P7 OURAYNEWS.COM YEAR 140 THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF RIDGWAY, OURAY AND OURAY COUNTY, COLORADO NO. 1 JUNE 1 - 7, 2017 OURAY COUNTY TOWN OF RIDGWAY Seacat pursuing other “Everyone duck!” broadband routes after $1 million grant removed by Dalton Carver [email protected] With a grant of about $1 million in the palm of his hand, Clearnetworx owner Doug Seacat had big plans to install quality broadband fiber infrastructure throughout Ridgway, bringing hope to local residents and businesses their digital subscriber line (DSL) connections may finally go the way of dial-up. However, the money was recently taken away and given to internet service provider giant CenturyLink, resulting in disgruntled business owners and ensuring DSL will remain the only affordable option in Ridgway for the foreseeable future. In late September 2016, the Colorado Broadband Board, a division of the state Department of Regulatory Affairs, awarded Montrose-based internet service provider Clearnetworx a grant of $1,061,167 to install fiber through- out Ridgway, including coverage through the downtown area, Solar Ranch and Vista Terrace. The fiber would be a modern upgrade on the current usage of DSL, creating faster upload and download speeds for residents and business own- ers. The award was a large chunk of the $2.4 million put aside by DORA in 2016 for statewide last mile broadband projects. Clearnetworx, throwing in about 25 percent of project fund- ing, had applied for the grant and received it to start a last mile project in Ridgway, which would have connected with Underground tourists huddle together in the mining cart tram, ducking their heads as low clearance obstacles headed GRANT P22 their way. Plaindealer photo by Dalton Carver OURAY COUNTY Mining conference attendees journey into the dark Improving river health is aim by Dalton Carver For a visual journey of the tram. of cleanup efforts [email protected] tour, visit ouraynews.com for the The below-ground tour started video. with groups being shuttled up by Mary Menz Trekking down into the dark The tourists of the Ouray Camp Bird Road to the Ouray [email protected] of the Ouray Silver Mine at about Silver Mine, attendees of the 2017 Silver Mine site and entrance. The River pollution is recognizable as trash on and around a 10 to 15 miles per hour, the min- San Juan Mining and shuttle made occasional stops river and its banks, yet some pollution and contamination is ing cart tram was coming up on a Reclamation Conference in along with road for short history invisible to the naked eye. low clearance area, prompting the Ouray, took a dark, damp journey lessons, given by both driver Leo Dudley Case, a board member of the Uncompahgre driver to yell out into the dark - inside the mine as part of the con- Rasmusson and longtime Ouray Watershed Partnership, and his wife Sharon, measure water "Everyone duck your heads!" The ference hosted by the city and resident Rick Trujillo. quality of the Uncompahgre River at four different locations ride had just started, but there organized by Mountain Studies As Rasmusson stopped for the between Ouray and the Pa-Co-Chu-Puk tailwater fishery. would be many more warnings to Institute. riders to take in the views, he “The river is always cloudier above the reservoir from come. The rickety ride would Several groups trudged into would describe what they were both naturally occurring elements in the area’s geology and eventually lead to a test section of the mine last Friday to see its past seeing and Trujillo would add in runoff from abandoned mines,” said Dudley. the mine, where tourists would be and present, receiving a tour of some mining history, having had Monthly, Dudley tests for hardness, alkalinity and three able to see a sliver of a silver ore the operation with full gear and a heavy metals: aluminum, arsenic and zinc. vein embedded above them. trip into the depths via mine cart INTO P16 “Twice a year, we also take samples for nutrient testing, which includes phosphates,” said Dudley. RIVER P22 Ouray Peggy Lindsey Gifts for Locals, too! 970-325-4478 Broker/Owner Open Daily Ridgway 6 970-626-5462 644 MAIN ST., OURAY OurayRealEstateCorp.com Shirts & (970) 325-4408 www.csbcolorado.com 970-325-4663 Gifts MountainFeverShirts.com 2 JUNE 1 - 7, 2017 OURAY COUNTY PLAINDEALER OURAYNEWS.COM CITY OF OURAY Conference offers insight into the future of mining by Mary Menz efforts like revegetating, reviving and restoration project manager for Colorado relief for groups wanting to help.” [email protected] reestablishing areas around closed and active Trout Unlimited, shared with attendees why Duncan described the bipartisan reintro- mines. Other sessions focused on managing the coalition, Trout Unlimited and other duction of a draft in January 2016 of the In a region of the state where mining mine waste past and present, from ground- coalition partners support legislation that Good Samaritan Cleanup of Orphan Mines legacy is big business—both as an active water monitoring to flood- Act by Senators industry and as an offshoot of tourism—it is plain development to reduc- Michael Bennett (D) not surprising that more than 150 people ing contaminant loads in and Cory Gardner attended the seventh annual San Juan acid mine drainage areas and (R) and Mining Conference in Ouray last week. successful restoration plans. Representative Scott The conference featured 14 presentations At the end of the day, the Tipton (CO-03). relevant to the theme “Coming Full Circle: focus was on the future of Since then negotia- Making a Difference and Forging Ahead.” reclamation, specifically the tions between law- Attendees included mining professionals, need for Good Samaritan makers have stalled associated businesses and interested mem- legislation as it relates to due to compliance bers of the public, some involved in the dealing with abandoned and and liability issues, region’s recreation organizations. orphaned hard rock mines, even in the wake of Morning sessions addressed how various ways to convert waste rock to the Gold King Mine stakeholder groups are active in remediation useful products and a panel spill into the Animas of local River in August experts who 2015. discussed the Different forms of future of this kind of legisla- mining in tion have been on the San the burner in Juans. Colorado for more than two decades. Publishes Good Sam legislation Mining conference panelists, left to right: Bob Larson, Dave Belling, Pat Willits, Converting waste the last Russ Means and Frank Filas. The San rock to good pur- Thursday of Juan Clean pose Plaindealer photo by Mary Menz each month. Water “The sheer vol- Coalition ume of waste rock in comprises 20 regional busi- would make cleanup of abandoned and mining operations makes managing and stor- nesses, more than a dozen orphaned mines easier. ing it a huge obstacle and cost in the envi- The Source for Business and Real Estate News In Ouray County. nongovernmental agencies “Good Sam legislation would not allow ronmental sustainability of mining,” said and thousands of individu- anyone with a backhoe willy-nilly access to Andrew Harley, a principal scientist with als. clean up or treat water,” said Duncan. “But it Duraroot Environmental Consulting, during During the afternoon ses- would increase capacity for cleanup efforts, his presentation. Call 970-325-2838 to advertise. sion Lauren Duncan, mine allow partial cleanup and provide liability MINING P3 OURAYNEWS.COM OURAY COUNTY PLAINDEALER JUNE 1 - 7, 2017 3 MINING future FROM P2 Instead, Harley said, the emphasis hydrologist and water resources direc- 70s and a better informed citizenry. can and should be on closing the waste tor for Mountain Studies Institute, “From a local perspective, it’s a lot Sunday Service loop by extracting minerals from waste introduced a panel of experts with easier for the public to embrace the & Sunday School rock. He said that his company is using more than 140 years of experience plans for Ouray Silver Mines, because 10:00 a.m. a proprietary, environmentally safe among them. Panelists included: it’s a known entity and scale of opera- chemical leaching process that can also • Bob Larson, mining and geologi- tion,” explained Pat Willits. “People On the corner of Lena & Charles St. extract precious metals from waste cal consultant, Monadnock Mineral now also have an appreciation for the Pastor Leslie Wood rock. Services L.L.C.; mining legacy. For example, for 20 970-626-5803 Harley insisted that mineral recov- • Dave Belling, P.E., Bullfrog Gold years the public thought all of the ery is not as important or as lucrative Corporation; dilapidated mine structures were eye- as using the available biominerals in • Frank Filas, P.E., Filas sores. Now people want to save those This Sunday, June 4 waste rock to add minerals back to Engineering and Environmental old buildings. agricultural land, to fortify animal Services L.L.C.; “By the way,” said Willits, “I’m Rev. Leslie Wood, preaching feedstock or to create fertilizer, • Pat Willits, executive director, pleased to announce that last week, the "In the Midst of Messiness" depending on the minerals being Trust for Land Restoration; and, Trust for Land Restoration and Ouray extracted. • Russ Means, senior environmental Silver Mines signed a memorandum of Affiliated with Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Potential use of waste rock can be protection specialist, Colorado Division understanding to conserve the surface United Methodist Church, Presbyterian Church (USA), an incentive as well as a cost recovery of Reclamation, Mining and Safety. rights of mining lands. This will help United Church of Christ aspect to future mining operations, An interactive discussion with the them achieve their mining goals and www.UCSJridgway.org explained Harley.