On May 15, San Miguel County approved a special-use permit at Slick Rock, on Highway 141, for the exploratory purpose of drill holes. Alex Kreile, a project geologist, working on behalf of Highbury Resources Inc., is seeking to verify and validate old claims of uranium and vanadium from the 1950s. Kreile told county officials that Slick Rock did contribute to the Manhattan Project.
The land to be drilled totals less than half an acre and is on federal land. The drilling of holes has already been permitted by the state and federal government. The company has identified 27 holes, but will only drill 20 of those.
At the May 15 meeting, Kreile went before San Miguel County commissioners with maps and a presentation. Kreile noted that some plants — Gypsum Valley Cateye and Naturita Milkvetch — are of concern, but not located at the drill sites. He added there are no raptor nests within a half mile of sites either. Ecological surveys were completed by two different companies for the permits.
Additionally, any cultural resource discoveries would be reported to the BLM.
The drill work is permitted for May 1 to Nov. 30, but will only last a small portion in that window, maybe two to three weeks.
Sheep Mountain Alliance voiced opposition, as did Great Old Broads for Wilderness and the Cachuma Ranch. Still, San Miguel County Planning Commission had already approved the special-use permit beforehand 3-2 in April.
Some of the controversy has to do with three sites closer to the Dolores River. Another site sits within the proposed national conservation area (NCA), though the NCA does not yet exist.
Regarding the sites closest to the river, Kreile said he doesn’t believe they will drain into the river. At the same time, he agreed that his crew would use best management practices for stormwater, though he doesn’t believe that will be an issue, due the flatness of terrain. His crew will implement straw wattles for erosion control. He added the drill holes use nontoxic fluid: water, clay and a type of polymer.
Kreile said his outfit intended to use a local contractor for drilling, Tri-Park, out of Nucla.
Additionally, he said that the drill holes would need to look at hydrological data to determine whether they’d like to seek permits for groundwater monitoring wells, potentially four of them.
Regarding the site within the NCA boundary, Kreile said it’s not first priority, since it’s not easy to access. However, a representative from Highbury Resources, Doug Beahm, said that accessing the site in question was part of the point, to explore before an NCA is established.
“It sounds like you’re wanting to find out if we need to pick a fight later,” Commissioner Lance Waring said.
Regarding any uranium contamination from the drill holes, Kreile said it’s undetectable at the surface, maybe .2 percent for a good hole. As far as traffic goes, he said that it won’t be a big operation. Noise shouldn’t be a big factor either, since it’s just the water truck and the engine on the drill rig, which is attached to another truck.
Some comments have expressed concern that Slick Rock could be the site of future uranium mines. Kriele said the permit in question is only for exploration, the verification and validation of previous work that has been done. He said if Highbury were to submit an application for mining, there would be plenty of opportunity for the public to comment in the future.
While San Miguel County cannot bar approval for the site within the proposed NCA boundary, commissioners did approve the special-use permit with the “request” to avoid it.
Planning director Kaye Simonson told the Forum last Friday there are more exploration permits coming, one in the Big Gypsum Valley.
