Take Action!
NOW IT’S TIME TO TAKE EFFECTIVE ACTION!
TIME TO WRITE THAT LETTER…..
If you’re on this page you’re most likely ready to write a protest letter to the BLM. You can skip right down to the sample letter and “go for it” if you like. However, if you have the time to do a little reading, what’s between here and there might be helpful to you.
Period of Public Protest: Write Now or Never
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has allowed for a period of public protest starting December 11th (the first day allowed for letters to be postmarked). The longer we look the more we see only increasing evidence that the BLM has made a huge mistake in designating the ~800 acres of this parcel (see Useful files) as open for leasing for mining. It should have ALWAYS been designated as closed to leasing for mining!
The process that the BLM used to “open” this acreage is called a PEIS evaluation. Unlike proposed EPA project sites, the BLM process does not require an evaluation of the specific site and the specific project in order to give the “OK” to open acreage up. Hard as it is to imagine, if the BLM does not reverse its stance in light of your efforts, the February 2010 lease auction will give the winning bidder control of the use of this acreage (both under the ground AND on the surface) for 10 years, for whatever project my suit them – in fact, it may suit them to sell or transfer the lease in that 10 year period, all with virtually no added restrictions.
So, for example, when we’re told how quiet the factory is, just what factory are we talking about? If the project involves well drilling, it might mean 10 or 50 wells – it is all unknowable over that 10 year period. Now you can see how vital it is for you to write a short letter to the BLM expressing your opposition to having this acreage be “open” to leasing – if it stays “open” we’ll never know what it’s open to!
Not that it matters much, but as one digs into the workings of the BLM it seems that their organizational adoption of a “Tiering” process in response to 2005 legislation to “get things moving” may have ended up getting places like Mt. Princeton lumped in with other parcels and THAT resulted in the Mt. Princeton acreage being opened for leasing, where a minimum of common sense would tell one differently. If you care to dig into this, go to “Useful Files” and download “The Geothermal Leasing PEIS – A User’s Guide 2009″ – there’s some 4 or 5 pages of interesting data buried in there. BUT DON’T GET SIDETRACKED – YOU’RE HERE TO GET A LETTER WRITTEN!
Need Help Writing Your Letter?
You may consider copying and pasting bits and pieces of what follows, especially the addresses, signature areas and form of the letter so that you get those done correctly (the BLM appears to like reasons for tossing letters). Just remember that, in the end, this has to be YOUR letter – the BLM will likely discard any 100% copied and pasted letters. And be sure to post it on or after December 11th so your letter does count.
Have a little fun, but be absolutely clear on one point – we are objecting to the parcel being open to leasing and simply want it closed to leasing by the BLM. They don’t really need to spend buckets of your money or mine making that call, it’s so obvious. Don’t fall into the trap of arguing merits of a particular project or technology that may have magical powers the next few years – no one can know what will happen on that 800 acres for the next 10 years if it goes to auction.
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A SAMPLE LETTER TO THE BLM (BELOW)
A LETTER WHOSE BODY MUST BE CUSTOMIZED A BIT
ALL YOU SEE BELOW IS REQUIRED AS TO MAILING ADDRESS AND SIGNING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE LETTER:
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Bureau of Land Management, CO State Office
2850 Youngfield Street
Lakewood, CO 80215
Attn: Ms. Karen Zurek
c/o 922
RE: Letter of Protest
Geothermal Parcel COC73714
February 2010 Lease Auction
Dear Ms. Zurek:
[BODY OF LETTER - SEE BELOW FOR SAMPLE]
Yours truly,
Name: _____________________________________ (printed)
Signature: ____________________________________
Address: _____________________________________
____________________________________________
Zip Code: __________________
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HERE’S A SAMPLE LETTER THAT YOU COULD WORK FROM, COPY AND PASTE INTO THE BODY OF THE LETTER. BE SURE TO MAKE IT YOUR OWN, PRINT IT OUT AND SEND IT TO THE BLM.
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I am writing to you today to register my strongest possible protest about the BLM’s decision to allow this parcel to be auctioned next February. I have spent time doing research about this process and am not at all impressed with what I’ve discovered. In my opinion that there’s really no question – the acreage (and probably more just like it out of the 100 + BLM acreages that are open for leasing) should have never been considered as suitable for open leasing for mining. For a list of reasons a mile long, this acreage should have been declared as closed.
I live in the Chalk Valley (or our family comes to visit, we ATV up near St. Elmo, fish, an concerned with the environment – noise, water pollution, dust, the way the area looks – you pick your poisons!) and it has always been a gorgeous recreational area. Certainly this area is not a place where industrial development would be appropriate. (If you live here, the loss of seasonal jobs is a real concern). As I understand this, the lease to be auctioned would last at least 10 years and could be sold or transferred to another party, so the BLM really has no idea what a project might look like or sound like; in fact, no real way of knowing anything at all.
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(THAT WOULD BE ENOUGH TO REGISTER A PROPER PROTEST, AS LONG AS YOU ADDED A BIT OF CUSTOMIZING). WE’RE GOING TO CONTINUE ON WITH OTHER IDEAS TO HELP YOU EXPAND ON YOUR LETTER – OR FEEL FREE TO ADDRESS ANYTHING THAT SEEMS APPROPRIATE TO YOU, THAT YOU MAY HAVE FOUND ON THE WEBSITE, OR AN ISSSUE DEAR TO YOU. WITH THIS SITUATION IT’S EASY TO KEEP WRITING AND WRITING……..
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(FOR LOCALS WITH PROPERTY IN THE AREA): The reason given by the BLM for taking this parcel out of the November auction was split-estate issues. Now that we’ve had more time to understand THAT process we are frankly horrified. As owners of the surface but not the minerals we stand to lose whatever the new owners of the lease choose to take (we do get paid their price, of course), like acreage for a factory, room for above-ground pipes of huge size, acreage torn up for well sites, etc. And since no one knows what the project will end up being, we don’t know if it will be a 10 acre footprint or a 100 acre footprint. We DON’T know that, but we do know how long it takes for the ground to heal. Our intent was not to live here and watch “our” property torn up and its esthetics destroyed. We now know that any project could destroy the value of the rest of our investment in the valley, and that the federal government forbids us any compensation
When it comes to tearing up the area, it’s no small matter that the parcel is in two parts. If, as seems likely, one area is for hot water wells and the other is for the injection of the cooled water, then the people running this project will need to get out their lawyers and use the power of eminent domain in order to condemn the land they need for pipes to connect the parcel parts, pumping stations, etc.. Recent Supreme Court rulings have shown who will win that battle.
(FOR ADDRESSING POLITICS – SEE WEB SITE TOO –THIS IS SORT OF OFF-TOPIC BUT PERHAPS USEFUL; WE NEED TO STAY ON THE TOPIC OF THE PARCEL ITSELF) – I was terribly distressed by the process Chaffee County was introduced to the notion of a geothermal development, as delivered by the Governor’s Energy Office. They seemed to basically adopt a private company and took it upon themselves to sell that company’s product to the community – never mind that in 2007 that same company was pushing a different technology and explaining to investors why the 2009 process was not a particularly good idea! The GEO’s own manual says that they are suppose to help inform the community, even to the point of making an effort to inform us of consequences not easy for us to anticipate; in reality, they sold whatever the company was selling – for instance, the split-estate issue was never presented to the community. And the idea that GEO (through one of its branches, the Clean Energy Office?) gave public funds to a for-profit private company raises a lot of questions as well.
(PEIS considerations – see Useful files button, The Geothermal Leasing PEIS). BACK TO THE PARCEL ITSELF. It doesn’t come close to meeting most of what is required of a parcel to qualify for being open to leasing. The portion of the parcel on the west is noted as one of the most active debris flow areas in Colorado, due partially to the extreme erosive nature of the soil – it closes County Road 162 a few times every year with mud flow and boulders up to 4-5 feet in diameter. How could this not be noticed? Well, the BLM process doesn’t necessarily guarantee that any specific acreage is examined before it’s deemed OK to lease! This goes back to the PEIS/Tiering process noted earlier. The parcel’s status when it comes to 100 year flood plains questions is a PEIS issue. Again, the western part of the NE half of the parcel contains this mud flow area – one would have to think it and other areas of the parcel are also on the 100 year flood plain, which would present PEIS issues. Also, any the lease activities would be almost guaranteed to interact with Chalk Creek, a major tributary stream into the Arkansas River. Another PEIS potential trouble spot.
Areas noted for recreation and special use are, according to the PEIS, not to have anything allowed on the surface, like a factory. This 800 parcel is prime recreational territory and always has been. Surely Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort and Young Life are prime recreational areas in Chaffee County!
Is this parcel a designated as an important Viewshed? It sure seems like it should be! A development at the base of Mt. Princeton, many acres in size with multi-story cooling towers above or in the Chalk Creek basin itself is unthinkable.
Other talking points:
- Type of geothermal process to be used on this lease might entail the movement of massive amounts of water that would endanger the very water we drink and use for our businesses.
- Safety risk – the parcel crosses County Road 162, the only paved road for emergency vehicles to go west up the valley. Development of the parcel could endanger use of road.
- Dust, noise and construction of any major facility presents a long-term challenge and potential destruction of a unique environment.
- Earthquake risks are associated in the literature with geothermal projects and we are in a highly faulted zone, virtually from the surface on down.
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Share Your Chaffee County Story
We’re sure that your own experience in this area, from mountain climbing to hiking to photography to enjoying the utter quiet of our nights will surely give you enough to write a short letter to the BLM. Never forget, we simply want the parcel closed to leasing – anything less and we’ll have to fight this battle every time a pile of easy money, politics and poor thinking pop up. Unfortunately, we think that may happen too often!
Thank you for taking the time for getting the letter into the mailbox AFTER Dec. 11th. You may want to come back to the web site and check on the latest news button – we’ll be the first to let you know how our efforts are being received!
You MUST have your printed name, signature, and address with any written mail. Your telephone number is optional (personally, I wouldn’t give it out). So create a short Word document (or whatever program you use, print it and put it in the mail on or directly after December 11th. Then you will have done all you can to help! If you haven’t already, reconsider sending your contact list to your family and friends – that is a huge help to this cause. Then we can hopefully win this battle and go back to life as we knew it before this monster came out of hiding.
We all thank you for your help!
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