CEMEX

Some believe mining request process has been rushed

Residents express concerns

Residents who live near the Dowe Flats property east of Lyons have plenty of questions about CEMEX’S request to continue mining in the area for 15 years.

“What are the impacts on public health and safety?” Bart Lorang, a member of the group Good Neighbors of Lyons, asked during a virtual community forum Thursday. “I’ve been hearing more and more about different health issues that folks have reported, particularly like east and north of the plant.”

On May 2, CEMEX applied to the Boulder County Community Planning and Permitting Department for a special use permit to extend its mining operation at the Dowe Flats pit for 15 years.

As part of its proposal, the global building materials company would shutter its nearby cement plant on the same day its mining operations, should they be extended, would also conclude — Dec. 31, 2037.

Without that agreement in place, Boulder County officials have maintained, CEMEX could operate the cement plant “indefinitely” even after the mine shuts down.