Winds have been blowing up dust from Gold Hill, in part due to a two month discontinuance of keeping damp the exposed 210-acre toxic mound. Neighbors are complaining, but have no fear, developer Bob Willard told the Westside Pioneer “I take responsibility for that.” That’s great. If years later health statistics point to an abnormal concentration of debilitating illness due to arsenic or lead, we’ll know where to knock.
Justice delayed is justice denied. Profit now at all cost later.
The State of Colorado authorized the Gold Hill development on a “brownfiled” site, the mound of tailings from the old gold-mill. Their proviso was that particular care be taken to, among other measures, keep the freshly disturbed tailings from being inhaled by the city’s residents.
For some reason, perhaps owing to the housing market financing problems, Willard decided to forgo the water trucks until someone complained. Oh, is that how enforcement of state instructions work? Open the can of worms, whether you have the means to stick around or not, don’t bother about the lid.
It looks as if the state will bear some fault for this too. But meanwhile the developer tells us he will bear full responsibility for his lack of diligence to safeguard community health. Is he planning to abscond to Paraguay with his takings before we all start falling sick?
yeah, the day before you gave me the ride to King Soopers, I was out doing my recycling and wishing you were there, because you would have been able to take a huge freakin’ picture of the sandstorm coming off the “dune’.
only it isn’t sand and isn’t a dune.
When I first came up here I wondered how a sand dune got into the (basically) middle of the woods. And of course, nothing grew on it, not even grass.
That would be a one picture worth a hundred million words… $265 million words (that’s OUR stake in the widening project)
That’s not counting condemning all of Vermijo street or moving the creek and the bicycle trail to accomodate the expansion. That costs extra.
The last city budget proposal was wrestling with keeping police and fire services vs maintaining our stake in D11 and both vs keeping the bus schedules and routes, AND I noticed they closed the restrooms in the city parks once again..
Don’t know whose rectal orifice they intend to pull the quarter-billion from, and if they ever move to the Full Billion it’s probably going to take, where WE are going to get the money.
Looking into my Magic Crystal Ball, I just don’t see the Gold Hill folks paying even their agreed-upon share for it.