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SUMMIT COUNTY — A ban on cyanide heap leach mining in Summit County was restored Thursday after a 2-to-1 vote Thursday by the Colorado Court of Appeals. The court ruled that Summit County has the authority to forbid the practice, where a cyanide solution is drizzled over piles of low-grade ore to profitably extract gold.
The decision by the three-judge panel is subject to challenge in the Colorado Supreme Court. Local commissioners lauded the decision, and garnered praise from environmental groups for aggressively pursuing local control over a quality of life issue.
"The process (cyanide mining) is extremely dangerous," said County Commissioner Bob French. "It ain't any damn thing that should be going on in a community that is reaching for environmental values."
Mining industry officials see the regulations as a threat to mining in general, and as a possible first step to more restrictions. Using the latest technology and establishing high performance standards for cyanide heap leach mining can all but eliminate environmental concern, said Mining Association president Stuart Sanderson.
Sanderson said his group's challenge to the cyanide ban was not aimed at questioning Summit County's land use authority, but narrowly at the ban itself.
In the end, he said it was a "politicized" decision by the county commissioners to adopt a ban that led to the lawsuit.
"We are examining all our avenues of appeal," Sanderson said.
Summit County adopted its mining regulations in 2004. The Colorado Mining Association subsequently won its challenge to the cyanide ban and performance standards in Summit County District Court by asserting that state mining laws take precedent over local regulations.
But the appeals court pointed out that a 1993 amendment to the Mined Land Reclamation Act specifically requires mining operators to "comply with city, town, county, or city and county land use regulations."
The Mining Association argued that counties can't ban activities in which the state has a compelling interest, but the appeals court said Summit County's regulations fall "far short" of a complete ban.
"In our view, a ban on one specific type of mining as a county's exercise of its land use powers does not materially impede or destroy the state's interest in an economically sound and stable mining industry," two judges wrote in their majority decision.
The appeals court ruling could send part of the decision back to District Court Judge David Lass.
<b>Threat to mining? Threat to environment?</b>
Cyanide heap leach mining presents a high risk of serious water quality impacts, according to several conservation groups that joined Summit County in the battle to uphold the regulations. The potential risks to water quality and Summit County's recreation-based economy are simply too high, the conservation groups argued.
"This validates local land use control and decision making," said Summit County attorney Jeff Huntley, explaining that the mining industry's lawsuit was an aggressive challenge not only to the cyanide ban but to county authority in general.
Mining is an industry of statewide interest that needs a unified and effective regulatory framework to avoid a "patchwork of regulations," Mining Association spokesperson Sanderson countered.
Gunnison, Conejos, Costilla, and Gilpin have passed similar land use regulations and the Summit County case is likely to set a precedent for the whole state.
"Summit County residents ought to be proud of their elected leaders in standing up to protect the environment and quality of life in Summit County," said Jeff Parsons, attorney with the Lyons-based Western Mining Action Project, who represented the Alliance for Responsible Mining and the Blue River Group of the Sierra Club in appealing the case alongside the Summit County government.
"Clean water provides us with a high quality of life and is also the basis of a thriving mountain economy," said Karn Stiegelmeier, chair of the Blue River Group of the Sierra Club. "County commissioners must be able to prohibit specific types of mining that place our water resources at undue risk. The state of Montana prohibits this type of mining because of the harm it has caused."
Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.
The decision by the three-judge panel is subject to challenge in the Colorado Supreme Court. Local commissioners lauded the decision, and garnered praise from environmental groups for aggressively pursuing local control over a quality of life issue.
"The process (cyanide mining) is extremely dangerous," said County Commissioner Bob French. "It ain't any damn thing that should be going on in a community that is reaching for environmental values."
Mining industry officials see the regulations as a threat to mining in general, and as a possible first step to more restrictions. Using the latest technology and establishing high performance standards for cyanide heap leach mining can all but eliminate environmental concern, said Mining Association president Stuart Sanderson.
Sanderson said his group's challenge to the cyanide ban was not aimed at questioning Summit County's land use authority, but narrowly at the ban itself.
In the end, he said it was a "politicized" decision by the county commissioners to adopt a ban that led to the lawsuit.
"We are examining all our avenues of appeal," Sanderson said.
Summit County adopted its mining regulations in 2004. The Colorado Mining Association subsequently won its challenge to the cyanide ban and performance standards in Summit County District Court by asserting that state mining laws take precedent over local regulations.
But the appeals court pointed out that a 1993 amendment to the Mined Land Reclamation Act specifically requires mining operators to "comply with city, town, county, or city and county land use regulations."
The Mining Association argued that counties can't ban activities in which the state has a compelling interest, but the appeals court said Summit County's regulations fall "far short" of a complete ban.
"In our view, a ban on one specific type of mining as a county's exercise of its land use powers does not materially impede or destroy the state's interest in an economically sound and stable mining industry," two judges wrote in their majority decision.
The appeals court ruling could send part of the decision back to District Court Judge David Lass.
<b>Threat to mining? Threat to environment?</b>
Cyanide heap leach mining presents a high risk of serious water quality impacts, according to several conservation groups that joined Summit County in the battle to uphold the regulations. The potential risks to water quality and Summit County's recreation-based economy are simply too high, the conservation groups argued.
"This validates local land use control and decision making," said Summit County attorney Jeff Huntley, explaining that the mining industry's lawsuit was an aggressive challenge not only to the cyanide ban but to county authority in general.
Mining is an industry of statewide interest that needs a unified and effective regulatory framework to avoid a "patchwork of regulations," Mining Association spokesperson Sanderson countered.
Gunnison, Conejos, Costilla, and Gilpin have passed similar land use regulations and the Summit County case is likely to set a precedent for the whole state.
"Summit County residents ought to be proud of their elected leaders in standing up to protect the environment and quality of life in Summit County," said Jeff Parsons, attorney with the Lyons-based Western Mining Action Project, who represented the Alliance for Responsible Mining and the Blue River Group of the Sierra Club in appealing the case alongside the Summit County government.
"Clean water provides us with a high quality of life and is also the basis of a thriving mountain economy," said Karn Stiegelmeier, chair of the Blue River Group of the Sierra Club. "County commissioners must be able to prohibit specific types of mining that place our water resources at undue risk. The state of Montana prohibits this type of mining because of the harm it has caused."
Bob Berwyn can be reached at (970) 331-5996, or at bberwyn@summitdaily.com.
