{"id":98576,"date":"2018-07-28T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2018-07-28T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gcc-energy-paves-the-way-for-mining-to-increase-near-hay-gulch\/"},"modified":"2018-07-28T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2018-07-28T11:00:00","slug":"gcc-energy-paves-the-way-for-mining-to-increase-near-hay-gulch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/gcc-energy-paves-the-way-for-mining-to-increase-near-hay-gulch\/","title":{"rendered":"GCC Energy paves the way for mining to increase near Hay Gulch"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Chris
Chris Dorenkamp, GCC Energy\u2019s King II mine manager, said the firm has spent $6.75 million so far for improvements focused on the stretch of County Road 120 that has homes along it.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Residents perturbed by the constant drum of trucks hauling coal from GCC Energy\u2019s King II mine say the sound has abated somewhat with the near completion of the company\u2019s multimillion-dollar road improvement project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a lot of dust and noise over the years,\u201d said Karen Hunzeker, who lives along County Road 120. \u201cBut with their improvements, it\u2019s much quieter and there\u2019s a lot less dust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mining for coal in Hay Gulch, an area about 20 miles west of Durango, has been going on since the 1940s.<\/p>\n

But the operation exponentially picked up when Mexico-based cement producer Grupos Cementos de Chihuahua, operating under the name GCC Energy, purchased the King I and King II coal mines in 2007.<\/p>\n

At the time, La Plata County did not require GCC Energy to obtain a land-use permit, saying the mine was under state and federal purview. But the county reversed that decision in 2010, setting off six years of negotiations for a land-use permit.<\/p>\n

\"A
A truck carrying coal from a mine owned by GCC Energy heads down County Road 120. GCC has paved the road and realigned a dangerous curve. It also has made drainage and fencing improvements. This section of road was realigned, saving the historic barn.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In June 2016, La Plata County approved a Class II land-use permit for the King II mine, but an integral part of the deal was that GCC Energy must improve County Road 120, the gateway to the mine.<\/p>\n

Ever since GCC Energy ramped up production, residents along County Road 120 have logged a flurry of complaints about noise, dust and truckers driving too fast.<\/p>\n

On any given day, neighbors could see anywhere from 160 to 240 trucks pass by.<\/p>\n

As a result, La Plata County attached a condition to GCC Energy\u2019s land-use permit: Make $10 million in improvements to County Road 120. In turn, GCC Energy would be allowed to increase the amount of daily truck trips.<\/p>\n

After two years of work, Chris Dorenkamp, mine manager, said most of the project is complete.<\/p>\n

A little more than two miles have been paved and realigned to meet county standards, Dorenkamp said, and the company reconstructed a 90-degree corner that presented safety concerns.<\/p>\n

So far, GCC Energy has spent $6.75 million for improvements, focused on the stretch of County Road 120 that has homes along it. The completion of this part of the project on June 30 means GCC Energy can run 80 round-trips a day.<\/p>\n

Dorenkamp said the entire project should be complete in 2020.<\/p>\n

For residents, the paved road has decreased noise and greatly reduced the amount of dust kicked up.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe feedback is mostly positive,\u201d Dorenkamp said.<\/p>\n

\"A
A truck carrying coal from the King II mine heads down what is called the narrows on County Road 120. The company has widened this stretch and made additional improvements.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Julie McCue, a County Road 120 resident, said GCC Energy\u2019s project has improved noise and dust issues. But, she\u2019s worried about the amount of trucks the company can run when the project is completed.<\/p>\n

As part of the land-use permit, GCC Energy can run a maximum of 120 round-trips a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main issue always was the traffic,\u201d McCue said. \u201cThat issue was never resolved.\u201d<\/p>\n

The approval of GCC Energy\u2019s land-use permit was a contentious process that regularly packed county meetings. McCue said a misconception circulated that residents along County Road 120 wanted to shut the mine down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never wanted to shut them down,\u201d she said. \u201cWe just wanted it to be scaled back and be more thoughtful so we don\u2019t have 240 trucks going past our houses every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mark Schultz, who lives off County Road 120, said many of the same issues linger, with trucks speeding down the county road now that it\u2019s paved and a lack of communication to residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good news, bad news,\u201d Schultz said. \u201cRight now if traffic goes up, that\u2019s just nuts. It\u2019s just too much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dorenkamp said GCC Energy has taken steps to resolve these issues.<\/p>\n

\"A
A GCC Energy truck carrying coal heads down County Road 120. The company has widened this stretch and made additional improvements.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Truck drivers go through quarterly trainings, and trucks have large numbers written on them so residents can report if they are speeding. The company has also created a webpage to keep residents updated about construction.<\/p>\n

GCC Energy stopped running trucks on Sundays.<\/p>\n

Residents may request additional sound and visual barriers. Hunzeker, for example, requested a concrete barrier in front of her house.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s really helped with noise,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

In December, the Bureau of Land Management approved GCC Energy\u2019s request to expand its mine another 950 acres of underground workings, which is expected to extend the mine\u2019s life until at least 2023.<\/p>\n

GCC Energy had previously said the current mine workings were set to run out of reserves by 2020.<\/p>\n

Calls to the BLM were not returned Tuesday.<\/p>\n

The expansion is expected to keep 90 to 100 jobs in the community, as well as the associated maintenance fees and royalties GCC Energy pays every year. Dorenkamp said the mine pays $5 million in local, state and federal taxes.<\/p>\n

Dorenkamp said 120 daily trips is the maximum amount of trucks GCC can run. The exact number will depend on market demands.<\/p>\n

McCue, who purchased her home in the 1970s, said the impacts of the trucks are just something residents have to learn to live with.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt still breaks my heart,\u201d she said. \u201cBack in the day, we always respected each other. Do they really have to run so many trucks?\u201d<\/p>\n

jromeo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

good on road improvements<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5742,5735],"tags":[13,1512,2306],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-98576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-news","tag-frontpage-lead","tag-la-plata-county-government","tag-mining-issues"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=98576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/98576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/98577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=98576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=98576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=98576"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=98576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}