Log In


Reset Password
Opinion Editorial Cartoons Op-Ed Editorials Letters to the Editor

Give Hay Gulch residents a fair hearing

The Durango Herald has done a fine job reporting on the operation of the King II coal mine. As your story (Herald, Sept. 23) correctly reported, GCC Energy has operated the coal mine without a permit since it started operations at the new site in 2006, something no other business in the county would be allowed to do.

The coal mine has also been in violation of several county codes with the hauling of the coal out of Hay Gulch, but the Planning Department and the Board of Adjustments simply gives the mine a pass and lets them do what they want with virtually no oversight. What this means is the Planning Department and the board have thrown Hay Gulch residents on County Road 120 under the bus.

As stated in the article, we have lived in peaceful coexistence with the mine for more than 60 years. That is until it was moved to the King II location and more than tripled its coal output and truck traffic. The trivial proposals the mine has made to mitigate its activities will be of little to no benefit to those on County Road 120, and it may cost La Plata taxpayers millions of dollars in road construction.

What we residents are requesting is simple fairness in the activity of the mine, and we have made many low cost and reasonable requests to improve the situation, but the Planning Department has been unreceptive.

The entire county benefits from the tax revenue and economic activity of the mine, but the Hay Gulch residents bear the brunt of the truck traffic. There are other routes from the mine to the highway that are shorter, safer, less hilly and cheaper for the mine to use, but for some unclear reason, we on County Road 120 take all of the traffic.

We residents of Hay Gulch are hoping we get a fair hearing in front of the La Plata County commissioners on Oct. 8, and we can make our side of La Plata County livable for all.

William Thomas Williams

Hesperus



Reader Comments