Local environmental advocates plan to show up in full force at the upcoming Mancos Town Board meeting to speak out against the proposed adoption of Western Excelsior Corp.'s particulate control plan.
The plan was submitted to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in December and approved by the agency in April, said CDPHE communications liaison, Christopher Dann.
The town board is considering adopting the plan at its June 23 meeting. The Fugitive Particulate Control Plan requires in-person updates at board meetings every six months and requires the erosion products manufacturer to enter into a good neighbor agreement with the town.
The good neighbor agreement includes provisions that "set standards of care for outside the site."
One of the main points of contention for Concerned Residents of Riverside Avenue (CROR) chairman Chip Tuthill is that the plan does not contain provisions for the capture and containment of fine particulates, PM2.5 and PM10 according to EPA standards, via installation of air-quality monitoring and testing equipment.
Tuthill is also concerned that by adopting the plan as a town, the public comment period would be eliminated.
"The whole thing is still in process. If the board takes action now, they undercut the process, and is basically putting a wrench in any public comment period," said Tuthill. "What they should be doing if they had enough concern about the health of our residents, is to strongly require testing and monitoring to determine if the health of residents is being affected."
Dann says the agency's Air Pollution Control Division is processing a "Construction Permit to Emit" for Western Excelsior that would be rolled into the particulate plan.
"The division expects that, once completed, the public will be invited to provide written public comment on the permit package. The division expects to roll the existing Fugitive Particulate Control Plan into the permit package, which would afford an opportunity for the public to comment on it as well," said Dann.
At the town's June 3 workshop session, several fallback options were discussed should the board not opt to adopt the particulate plan. Other options proposed include enforcing warnings, citations and fines; partnering with Western Excelsior to create a buffer zone; help Western Excelsior relocate from town; and require monitoring of particulates.