No Environmental Studies Have Been Done at CEMEX Lyons
During the Boulder County Planning Commission hearings last month, Planning Staff was asked by Commissioner Fitch to provide more information about the cumulative impact to public health with 15 more years of mining at Dowe Flats. After a two week break to gather more information, Planning Staff failed to provide anything meaningful on this point, and only included a half hearted attempt at a desktop review of macro level impact to address the concerns raised by Commissioner Fitch.
Why Do We Make Policies If We Don’t Consistently Enforce Them?
If you haven’t been following along on all the twists and turns of CEMEX’s application for an additional 15 years of mining at Dowe Flats, near the Town of Lyons, you are missing out. As I’ve followed along, I’ve been taken aback by Boulder County’s disregard for the policies that should dictate how our beloved community is governed, especially because these are the people we pay to enforce them.
Improper CKD Disposal
Cement kiln dust (CKD) is a byproduct of the cement manufacturing process. It’s produced at Dowe Flats, and disposed of at the plant on the south side of Highway 66. CKD contains several heavy metals, including arsenic, lead, chromium, cadmium and molybdenum, and has “been known to precede a number of systemic injuries with particular reference to the respiratory, gastrointestinal, and integumentary systems characterized by fibrosis, emphysema, cough, cancer, inflammation, and liver diseases among workers and host community residents of cement factories”. (Source)
Special Use Criteria #1 - 1000 foot issue
According to a statement made Boulder County Planning Staff in their presentation to Planning Commissioners, Dowe Flats is only 150 feet away from the Lyons Quarry site. Why was this claim made when in reality the parcel in question at Dowe Flats is over 3500 feet away? That’s quite a huge difference so we did some digging.