| 11/19/2009 11:57:00 AM | Email this article • Print this article | Geothermal lease steams some Chalk Creek residents
by Joe Stone Special to The Mail
Chalk Creek area property owners near the proposed Bureau of Land Management geothermal lease site worry environmental issues weren't fully addressed when the land was opened for mineral leasing.
Area resident Stephen Glover said residents are beginning to educate themselves and "the more they learn, the more they are dismayed."
He said that includes the bureau process allowing the mineral lease, lack of information provided the community and effects of an industrial project on a location known for scenic beauty.
Harold Palmer, a 16-year Nathrop resident, worries the proposed lease could allow construction of power generation equipment on private land because the lease is for subsurface mineral rights - much of which lie beneath private property.
That creates a "split estate" Glover said, because ownership of the land is split between surface owners and subsurface mineral right owners - in this case, the bureau.
Palmer said he worries about water to which he owns rights under Colorado law. He believes the bureau lease would allow a private company to potentially take his water as a mineral right.
"Is it water, or is it a mineral?" he asked.
Glover said other issues include construction erosion upon steep topography, water pollution to Chalk Creek and the aquifer, traffic, dust, noise, safety, visual resources, seismic activity and loss of water in local wells.
Glover said he hopes to assist public education about those and other geothermal issues through the Web site he launched Monday at www.chaffecountygeothermal.com.
The site points to the condition of binary geothermal technological development as another problem.
According to the Colorado Geothermal Development strategic plan, "only the binary cycle power plant is applicable to resources in the state."
Binary geothermal plants pump hot ground water to the surface and through a heat exchanger. Inside the heat exchanger, a fluid with a low boiling point is vaporized to turn a turbine generating electricity.
Glover cited the Hatch geothermal power plant near Beaver, Utah, as an example of binary geothermal technology not yet delivering as promised.
Sept. 18, the Salt Lake Tribune reported that six months after the plant began generating, "the company is buying almost as much electricity to keep the place running as the plant is producing."
After his Web site, Glover said he has no plans to organize a formal group. However, he said he recently sent a mass e-mail to "a lot of contacts" who earlier expressed interest in preventing geothermal power development in the area.
"I have received a lot of help from Ann and George Salwaechter and Harold and Judy Palmer, all of whom live in the valley. Gene Rush, who has academic background and expertise in geothermal issues, has helped a lot," Glover said.
To assist his goal of getting the area designated as "closed to mineral leasing," Glover encourages people to write to the bureau during the formal protest period.
"The BLM won't be accepting formal protests until Dec. 11. That protest window will close Jan. 27 before the auction of leases to be held Feb. 13.
"Our goal is to get as many people educated and interested as possible ... and for folks to be prepared to mail written - no e-mail allowed - knowledgeable, protests to the BLM during that window," Glover said.
|
Article Comment Submission Form
|
