Photo from Peak Materials Editor’s note: This story has been updated to include accurate information about the location of the Peak Ranch Resource Project.
, including preliminary review comments from the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety, comments from Summit County and 142 objection letters.
The company is currently in the permitting process with the state. If the permits are awarded, Peak Materials will then have to obtain two permits from Summit County before the project can begin: one to mine materials on the 75-acre Hillyard property, which is about seven miles north of Silverthorne, and one to import the materials to the company’s Maryland Creek Ranch facility about 11 miles south of the mining site.
The West Elk coal mine in the North Fork Valley faces a proposed $3,500 fine in connection with an October incident in which a mine roof collapsed just 30 feet underground and created a hole at the surface, resulting in a creek draining into the mine for a short time.
The state Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety notified Mountain Coal Co., a subsidiary of Arch Resources, of the proposed civil penalty Dec. 14. Mountain Coal can request a review of the penalty within 10 days of receiving the notification.
The surface subsidence occurred Oct. 13 during development of the western-most main entry to the west of a future longwall coal panel underground, according to a Dec. 2 response letter Mountain Coal sent to the state after receiving a notice of violation. The subsidence occurred on private land.
Aspen Journalism
Vehicles and machinery sit outside the entrances to the marble galleries of the Pride of America Mine in January. Local governments and environmental groups want the quarry operators to undertake mitigation projects to compensate for moving a creek, which violated the Clean Water Act.
Mike Stevens/EcoFlight
Local governments and environmental groups don’t think a proposal submitted by a mining company goes far enough to restore the damage done when the company diverted a section of creek near Marble, and they are asking the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to hold a public hearing to address various concerns.