As the owner Cross and Caribou mines outside Nederland seeks to resume mining, Nederland’s elected officials and nearby residents have questions and concerns after previous water quality violations led to a temporary shutdown.

The Colorado Mined Land Reclamation Board in 2022 imposed a cease-and-desist order at the gold-and-silver mines operated by Grand Island Resources LLC near 4400 Caribou Road.

The board first considered a state water quality violation in December 2021 and January 2022, and imposed the order in February 2022. The board found the mining operation violated the Colorado Water Quality Control Act by releasing heavy metals such as lead, cadmium and zinc into the watershed at levels that exceed what’s permitted by law.

That wastewater is directed to a series of lined ponds, according to the notice of violation. The water from both mines combined in the second pond and was discharged via pipeline to Coon Track Creek, which feeds into Barker Reservoir and Boulder Creek. Following the order, the Colorado Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety reviewed data and was unable to determine that any of the water resources had impaired water quality.

Grand Island’s lawyer, Ed Byrne, said 11 instances out of more than 400 data points didn’t meet the federal aquatic life water quality standards during the 2021 monitoring period — and none failed to meet federal drinking water standards. After those 11 instances, he said, the company installed a water treatment system to augment the historic water treatment provided by settling ponds.

The reclamation board agreed to lift the cease-and-desist order in January 2023, after Grand Island Resources withdrew its appeal to a determination by the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety that the mines now met the definition of a designated mining operation. As a designated mining operation, the company was required to comply with various rules before it could resume activity.After agreeing to accept the designation, Grand Island submitted an application in February to the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety to restart operations at the Cross Mine and to continue for up to 50 years. The application also includes increasing the permit area from about 10 acres to almost 206 acres.

“It’s been a long process to reach this point with the state to become a designated mining operation,” Byrne said. “We’ve spent several years demonstrating that our new water treatment system is effective.”

Residents have until April 2 to submit comments on the application at bit.ly/4j1nP6w, using permit number M1977410 for the Cross Gold Mine. Or residents can mail written comments to the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety at 1313 Sherman St., Room 215, Denver, 80203.

The Nederland trustees, at last week’s regular board meeting, also approved submitting a letter of concern to the division, while Boulder County plans to submit its own letter. Nederland’s letter, which doesn’t oppose the application, was drafted after a review of the Cross Mine application by the town’s Sustainability Advisory Board.

The town detailed questions in its draft letter around the company’s emergency response and town involvement, environmental and water quality impacts, inclusion of marginalized populations in the discussions, adequacy of the water treatment system, clarification on how the expanded acres will be used, truck traffic and financial assurances that the company can cover clean up costs when operations end. The letter goes on to request a public hearing prior to a decision, as well as to request independent studies.

“It is not made as an expression of opposition,” Town Administrator Jon Cain said at last week’s town board meeting. “It’s more of an expression of concerns and an ask for additional information so that we have all the information that the board would need to really understand what this operation is going to look like.”

Byrne said the expansion to about 200 acres is necessary for the company to begin processing and removing the mine dumps scattered throughout the Caribou and Cross mine area. He added that construction of an onsite mill to process the tailings and ore will substantially reduce the number of truck trips needed. The non-grade ore and waste rock can then be used to fill tunnels and shafts in the mine to safely close them and can be used as road base, he said.

“We want people to be assured that our intention is to not just meet state standards, but to exceed them and, in the process, to clean up the legacy issues on that site,” he said.

But some residents are skeptical.

Maggi Hendricks, daughter of former Cross and Caribou mines owner Tom Hendricks, is leading a campaign to encourage people to oppose the plans to restart mining, including starting a change.org petition that’s up to about 800 signatures. She said her dad, who ran the mines for about 50 years and died in 2020, respected both nature and the town.

“His whole vision for the mine was to make it as harmonious with the environment as possible,” she said.

Tom Hendricks sold to Grand Island Resources in 2017, with an agreement that he would remain as the president. After his death, Maggi Hendricks said, she was disappointed in the company’s actions and worries about potential impacts to water quality, air quality and wildlife if mining is resumed.

“It’s really concerning to think about how in their history, they really haven’t shown they could maintain their water quality,” she said. “I don’t know that Nederland should really trust them to maintain good water quality for 50 years of mining expansion.”

While Hendricks now lives in Durango, she added that she has family members in the area and considers Nederland home.

“It’s important for me to protect Nederland,” she said. “I grew up in that creek. I want to see Nederland preserved for many generations to come.”

Deb D’Andrea who lives on Caribou Road a few miles downstream from the mines, said the company’s past water quality violations, plus a threat to sue the town for defamation in 2022, don’t inspire confidence. She said the lack of communication to residents about the application, including the plans to increase operations to more than 200 acres and add an onsite processing plant, also “speaks volumes.”

“They have not held one town of Nederland community public meeting to openly discuss their Cross Caribou Mines vision, and how their designated mining operation, to last upwards of 50 years, will impact the town of Nederland,” D’Andrea wrote in an email. “This silence speaks loudly that they don’t care.”

If the application is approved by the state, Boulder County officials will need to determine if the county’s previous approved use by special review for the mines has lapsed. If so, a new special use review for the mine will be needed, according to county officials. If not, the proposed expansion will need to be evaluated to determine if a a new special use review or a special use amendment is needed.