After being presented a slew of options on how to address the ongoing Western Excelsior air-pollution issue, the Mancos Town Board and residents expressed hesitance with hiring a trained facilitator at a recent Town Board meeting.
The goal of the facilitator would be to have a locally enforceable agreement on improving air-particulate emissions from the lumber operations between all sides and stakeholders: Western Excelsior, the town of Mancos, Concerned Citizens of Riverside and other town residents.
The feasibility of coming up with an agreement that all parties could endorse was met with skepticism at during the Town Board meeting held last week.
“Everybody’s got to buy into the process and try to make it succeed. Without that, I don’t think it’s worth it,” said trustee Todd Kearns.
The quote received from a Durango-based trained facilitator was $7,000 for six meeting sessions, a sum that some argued should be shared with Western Excelsior.
“I think we should invite them to the table (for facilitator talks), but I’m against us paying for the whole thing,” said Trustee Queenie Barz.
Western Excelsior neighbor Tom Nunn echoed those sentiments.
“I’m concerned town funds would be spent on this. I feel Western Excelsior has used every opportunity to stall on any solution that might be had. This is an enforcement issue rather than one of negotiation,” he said.
Other options include:
Seeking grant funding opportunities on behalf of Western Excelsior to help the company acquire a bag house for its particulate-emitting cyclone.
Starting a Mancos Environmental Health and Safety Group to monitor broader environmental issues.
Relocating the company’s eastern gate and constructing a landscaped windbreak.
Town Administrator Andrea Phillips said has talked with Western Excelsior executives about relocating the gate on the eastern side of the building further south, which they responded to favorably.
“The gate could be done in the next 30 days,” said Phillips.
In another option to deal with air-particulate emissions, the town of Mancos is seeking funding options for the bag house dust collection system and other particulate-reduction measures on behalf of Western Excelsior.
The company has set a 2017 timeline for the acquisition of particulate-reduction materials because they’re so costly, and the town is considering exploring grant or funding opportunities on its behalf in order to help Western Excelsior acquire them faster. Doing so wouldn’t mean that the town would be matching funds or paying for the improvements but leveraging its public status to qualify.
