A Texas-based company operating a La Plata County gravel mine had its permit revoked Wednesday and lost a $45,673 financial warranty.

Company representatives have apparently disappeared and failed to pay a $646 annual fee to the state.

The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board voted unanimously to take the actions on the Indian Shadow Preserve gravel mine, located on about 8 acres near the intersection of U.S. Highway 160 and County Road 120 in Hesperus.

According to state records, Indian Shadow has not been in operation for a number of years, but was still required to pay a fee to the state in the amount of $323, as well as submit required annual reports and a map, for the past two years.

Tony Waldron, supervisor of the Department of Reclamation, Mining and Safety’s mine programs, said multiple attempts to contact the Austin-based company were met with silence.

As a result, this fall the division sent Indian Shadow representatives a notice that if the required fees and reports were not submitted, the company’s permit and financial warranty would be revoked.

“We have reached out numerous times,” Waldron told the board. “They are an out-of-state entity. We’re not sure what’s going on there.”

The Durango Herald’s attempts to reach the company were unsuccessful Wednesday. The registered agent for the company is Ed Wendler Jr., an Austin developer who did not return calls seeking comment.

No representatives for Indian Shadow attended Wednesday’s meeting in Denver.

Indian Shadow received its permit from the state to operate on the property, accessed just north of Kennebec Cafe on County Road 124, in 2007. Since then, the company has had no history of violations with the state, Waldron said.

It’s unclear how much production has occurred at the site since the permit was issued. State documents indicate the company entered a temporary cessation period in 2012 that was scheduled to expire in 2017.

Calls to La Plata County seeking information about the operation were not immediately returned Wednesday morning.

Waldron said the $45,673 financial warranty the company posted years ago would cover the cost of reclamation. A 2016 state inspection indicates there is not much disturbance on the property as a result of gravel mining.

jromeo@durangoherald.com

Indian Shadow enforcement (PDF)