Delta County Independent, May 4, 2016

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NORTH FORK TIMES

SURFACE CREEK NEWS

MOTHER’S DAY FUN

SPORTS

HIGH TECH UPGRADE

Sheep Camp Stock Dog Trials return to Hotchkiss this weekend, B1

Guide makes it easy to locate, identify trees in arboretum, C1

DELTA COUNTY

CHASING RECORDS

Delta County thinclads hit their stride in time for league meet, B5 MAY 4, 2016 VOL. 133, NO. 18

75¢

INDEPENDENT

www.deltacountyindependent.com

Demo of Oxbow silo makes closure real BY ERIC GOOLD Staff Writer

The coal storage silo at the Oxbow Mining’s Elk Creek Mine site in Somerset was taken down Friday morning, marking the end of an era and, some said, a way of life. Shortly after 9:30 a.m. the silo, built in 1969 in the heart of Somerset, collapsed with a thunderous boom and a dense cloud of coal dust after 300 pounds of dynamite demolished the structure. Gunnison County sheriff ’s deputies were on hand for traffic control and local fire departments provided three engines if necessary. Highway 133 was closed at both ends of Somerset during the demolition, which in all took about

building and warehouse as well as shop buildings that are still being used. “And our coal mine methane facility that’s generating electricity up here above us

10 minutes. Bringing down the silo was just one of the final steps in a long process of closing and reclaiming the mine. “The demolition and the reclamation has been taking place since last fall,” Oxbow Mining president Mike Ludlow said. “Once all of the coal-handling facilities have been removed, we’ll reclaim the topography. We’ll put it back to approximate original contour, topsoil and seed it. All the coal that you see here will be removed and buried onsite.” As reclamation efforts continue, part of the mine complex will remain as an industrial site. Oxbow has permission to leave the office

will stay,” Ludlow said. “That’s permitted to stay also.” As the mine’s physical skeleton slowly gets dismantled piece by piece, so too is a skeleton crew of workers left

behind to complete the closure. “We have four employees with Oxbow right now,” Ludlow said. “And it’s varied from DEMOLITION TO A3

Delta teen in coma after being struck BY PAT SUNDERLAND Managing Editor

Brandon Flores, a Delta High School sophomore, remains in a coma at Children’s Hospital after being struck while riding his bike. The accident occurred near the intersection of I and 1600 roads, in North Delta, at about 6:44 p.m. Sunday, April 24. A family member called from Denver Monday with an update on Brandon’s condition. Brandon, 15, was reportedly struck by an elderly couple in a white truck, who pulled over and called for help. Brandon was transported by ambulance to Delta County Memorial Hospital, then almost immediately airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Denver. Suffering from severe brain trauma, Brandon has had three head surgeries. Due to the buildup of fluid in his brain, a tube has been inserted to relieve the pressure. Because the brain injury is so severe, any other injuries have yet to be evaluated. Family members report he’s been taken off the medications that were administered to induce the coma, but Brandon has not regained consciousness and is not able

Brandon’s mother provided this photo, taken in the intensive care unit at Children’s Hospital in Denver.

INDEX

Accent ........................... A4 Activities ....................... A7 Back Page ................... D8 Business ........................ A8 Church ........................... D6 Classifieds .................. D1-2 Editorial ......................... A2 Legals ......................... D3-5 North Fork Times ........B1-4 Obituaries ......................B8 School Zone ............... A5-6 Service Directory ........ D7 Sports ..........................B5-6 Surface Creek News ...C1-6 TV Listings ..................C3-4

During ... The coal storage silo at the Oxbow Mining’s Elk Creek Mine site in Somerset was demolished last Friday morning. Originally built in 1969, the silo served in times of boom and bust that are now gone in the North Fork Valley. In the strange silence that followed the fall of the silo, one miner observed, “A whole way of life just got taken down.” Brandon Flores to talk. At Delta High School, Flores participates in football, wrestling and track. To stay in shape, he ran from his house to the Delta Trap Club and back every other day. On intervening days, he rode his bike. His classmates put together a video with words of support and encouragement. It was posted on the Delta High School Facebook page and shared with his appreciative family. In addition to prayers, the family welcomes donations on Brandon’s gofundme. com page, located by searching “brandon’s recovery & medicalbills” or typing in https://www.gofundme.com/ 28f8nknc. Jamie Head, spokesperson for the Delta Police Department, confirms that a juvenile was seriously injured in an accident involving a vehicle and a pedestrian/bicyclist on April 24. Neither the juvenile nor the driver of the truck has been identified by the police department. The investigation is ongoing, Head said. Anyone who witnessed the accident itself or was in the immediate area just prior to after the accident is asked to contact Sgt. Birely or Detective Reece at 970-874-7676.

April 29: Black Friday for coal mining industry BY HANK LOHMEYER Staff Writer

Friday, April 29, was a day of palpable sadness for the once world-class, communitybuilding coal mining industry of the North Fork Valley. That was the day the previously announced layoff of more than 100 miners at the Bowie mine took effect, said a local mining official at the Municipal Quarterly meeting in Paonia last Friday. A short distance upstream from Bowie at Somerset, the landmark Oxbow coal silo came crashing to the ground on the same day. Oxbow’s Elk Creek mine has closed and the demolition was part of site reclamation work. Bowie, following last week’s layoffs, has informed the county that it now has only 35 employees working to help shutter its #2 mine facility, reported Kathy Welt, an environmental engineer for the nearby West Elk Mine. Only two years ago the three North Fork coal mines directly employed 1,000 people, she noted.

Prayer rally planned This Thursday, May 5, is the National Day of Prayer and local citizens are invited to a prayer rally to begin at noon in front of the Delta County Courthouse at 5th and Palmer in Delta. Prayers will be led by local pastors and community leaders. Everyone is invited to take part through petitioning God for our nation. Please bring seating, if needed. This is the 65th annual National Day of Prayer established by Congress in 1952. See the proclamation signed by President Harry Truman in its entirety on page D6.

The West Elk mine’s parent company, Arch Coal of St. Louis, is in a bankruptcy reorganization. Providing an update on the North Fork Valley’s “last mine standing,” Welt offered the following information to the local officials gathered in Paonia: • The West Elk mine is working hard to remain profitable. • Arch Coal management is supportive of the mine. • Arch Coal management recognizes success in West Elk mine’s ability to lower costs and continue to produce top quality coal. • About 310 employees are working at West Elk. • Low cost of natural gas is impacting the coal market. • “Very difficult regulatory changes continue to challenge us,” she said. • Arch Coal hopes to conclude reorganization and emerge from bankruptcy by year end, and expects that profitable operations will continue at West Elk. • West Elk coal is super compliant environmentally;

the mine’s safety record is outstanding; and it has maintained award-winning environmental compliance during over 30 years of operations. • West Elk mine’s coal is some of the best in the nation, and is still needed as an energy resource. Welt provided the DCI with some background on the silo that was demolished at Oxbow last week. In an email she shared the following thoughts: “It had served to hold a large volume of coal awaiting to be loaded on the train. When it was first constructed (I believe in the early 1960s) the train would slowly pass beneath the silo to be loaded. Later, when the configuration of the train engines changed, they wouldn’t fit through the silo anymore. So a feeder and conveyor belt system were built to feed from the bottom of the silo to the newer train loadout building (built in the 1990s) that still stands to the east. But, it is soon to be dismantled and removed as well.”

Community Shred Day supports youth Join Alpine Bank and Colorado Document Security for the annual free Community Shred Day in Delta Saturday, May 7, from 8 to 11 a.m. The event will take place at Alpine Bank, 1660 Highway 92. Donations will be welcomed for the Delta High School football team. All documents will be shredded on-site by Colorado Document Security; the number of boxes is limited to five per person or business. There’s no need to remove papers from file folders, take out staples or remove paperclips as they can run through the shredder. Participants will be able to

watch as their documents are destroyed and leave with peace of mind, knowing their personal information will not get into the wrong hands. This is a great opportunity to get rid of old tax documents, bank statements, medical records and other personal documents. In 2015 at Alpine Bank locations in Delta, Montrose and Ridgway, over 44,000 pounds of paper was collected, shredded, and then later recycled. According to the EPA’s Waste Reduction Model, this is the equivalent of 66.7 cubic yards of landfill space.


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