CEMEX’S mining extension application questioned
The Boulder County Board of County Commissioners listened to several hours of public testimony Wednesday concerning CEMEX’S application to continue mining at the Dowe Flats Quarry for 15 years.
As of print deadline, the board had not yet reached a decision but indicated that it would continue the hearing until Sept. 29.
Unless extended, CEMEX’S mining permit will expire on Sept. 30.
“Everything about this application seems rushed to me,” Longmont resident Rosi Dennett said during the public comment. “Even though CEMEX has included some enticing carrots with this proposal, it has known for 25 years that this mining permit would expire this year.”
Of the roughly 55 people who signed up to speak during the public comment portion of Wednesday’s meeting, the vast majority implored the commissioners to deny CEMEX’S application.
Many residents noted how CEMEX’S mining operation at the Dowe Flats Quarry, namely the emissions it generated, was counterintuitive to the county’s climate goals. However, some CEMEX employees also called into Wednesday’s virtual meeting to support 15 additional years of mining, saying their jobs depended on it.
A CEMEX representative previously told the Planning Commission that the quarry had about 10 employees, two of whom lived in Boulder County.
A global building materials company, CEMEX operates 10 cement plants and almost 50 aggregate quarries across its U.S. network that extends to Boulder County. The Dowe Flats Quarry is located just east of Lyons and north of Colo. 66. CEMEX has also agreed to close its nearby cement plant, just south of Colo. 66, at the same time its mining operation would cease in 2037.
In 1994, the Board of County Commissioners authorized CEMEX to extract about 760,000 tons of material a year for a “maximum 25-year mining period,” according to a county staff report.
Trpimir Renic, CEMEX executive vice president of strategic
planning, acknowledged that the company’s mining operation continues to be the single largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions in Boulder County. However, he also said that the company was operating within the confines of its permit at the Dowe Flats Quarry concerning emissions.
When the Boulder County Planning Commission unanimously recommended denial of CEMEX’S application earlier this month, it did so, in part, after receiving vague answers as to why the company was requesting a 15year extension, specifically?
“Since the Great Recession, the construction industry has gone through a downturn and only recently has (it) picked up again,” Renic said. “One of the reasons that we are asking for the extension is, we simply did not consume, nor have the requirement to consume, the raw materials that are at the Dowe Flats Quarry.”
Commissioner Claire Levy questioned why the company had applied for a 25-year mining permit only to ask for a 15-year extension upon its original permit’s expiration.
“I think the community is really skeptical that 15 years means 15 years,” Levy said. “Why would we have confidence in that?”
Commissioners have said the continued hearing on Sept. 29 would begin at 3:30 p.m.