Coyote Gulch

Thursday, December 8, 2005

Gas development impact on groundwater

Pine River Times: "Since coalbed methane development started in the county in 1988, residents have claimed it has damaged their water wells. But state and federal agencies have said that's not their jurisdiction. Bayfield area ranchers Bill and Beth Vance and Jim and Terry Fitzgerald have filed suit in State Water Court in hopes of forcing the Colorado Division of Water Resources to take control of gas development impact on groundwater. It's a change of strategy from lawsuits during the 1990s, where landowners tried unsuccessfully to sue gas companies for alleged damage to water wells. 'This isn't asking for damages' Fitzgerald told the Times. 'We want to determine the legal obligations of the State Engineer.' The suit names State Engineer Hal Simpson and District 7 Water Engineer Ken Beegles."

Durango Herald: "State health officials have told the city of Durango to stop violating Colorado water-quality standards - the result of 57 raw-sewage spills since 2000. The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment issued a cease-and-desist order Nov. 28, requiring the city to take a series of actions between Dec. 17 and March 31, 2006. The spills that triggered the order all occurred in the sewer collection system. None occurred at the wastewater treatment plant at Santa Rita Park. According to the state agency, 11 violations involved raw sewage reaching the Animas River and 46 incidents involved sewage discharges on land. The city reported the incidents as they occurred to the health department. The most serious of the river discharges occurred March 22, 2001, when 25,000 gallons of untreated sewage reached the Animas between 28th and 29th streets. One accident involved 10 gallons, and another was recorded as an undetermined amount. A number of the land discharges were recorded as involving an 'undetermined' amount. The most serious incidents occurred on Dec. 4, 2004, and Jan. 12, 2005, when 1,000 gallons spilled along U.S. Highway 550 in the lower Animas Valley and in the 1200 block of Roosa Avenue, respectively. Durango city councilors are already moving to improve the system. After concerns were raised earlier by the Environmental Protection Agency, the city decided to hire two new maintenance workers, doubling its maintenance force. The new jobs will be paid for by a 5 percent sewer rate increase approved at Tuesday's council meeting."

Category: Colorado Water

8:10:23 PM

Ritter for Governor?
Colorado Pols: "Democrat Bill Ritter announced today that he has hired Greg Kolomitz to be his campaign manager. Kolomitz has a long record as a political consultant, with a specialty in referendum and issue campaigns. However, the hiring of Kolomitz was met with some groans from Democrats worried that he isn't experienced enough with a big statewide race to effectively handle Ritter's campaign (don't shoot the messenger -- that's the word on the street)."

Category: Denver November 2006 Election

6:46:59 PM

Remembering John Lennon

Coyote Gulch had the privilege of sharing Red Rocks with John Lennon and the rest of the Beatles back in 1964. The "cool" Beatle was killed 25 years ago.

6:33:43 PM

Proliferation of conventional weapons
Stygius: "It looks like their September trip together is bearing fruit, both in terms of good policy and good politics. As a successor to the highly successful Nunn-Lugar program -- which secured/destroyed deactivated WMD in the former Soviet Union -- now Senators Dick Lugar and Barack Obama are teaming up to deal with the proliferation of conventional weapons, in particular anti-aircraft missiles."

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

6:20:56 PM

Internet politics
Political Wire: "The Digital Future Project concludes the Internet 'has become an increasingly valuable tool in political campaigns, with a growing number of users saying the technology is empowering their political decisions.' In a survey, nearly 40 percent said they feel the Internet gives them more political clout -- up from 27 percent the year before. And almost 62 percent of respondents said they believe the Internet is important to political campaigns. Study director Jeffrey Cole: 'Clearly, the Internet[base ']s role in the American political process will continue to grow, and it could have a significant impact during the Congressional elections of 2006.'"

Coyote Gulch will help any campaign start a weblog and website, free of charge. You'll need $2,500 or so for a PowerBook and $39.95 for a copy of Radio Userland. You'll also need a broadband Internet connection. We can have you up and running in a few minutes.

Category: Denver November 2006 Election

6:51:21 AM

Damning big dams

American Scientist Online: "The publication of three new books addressing the problems associated with large dams reflects an ongoing debate over concerns such as development in industrializing nations, social and environmental justice, and the protection of river ecosystems. On the one hand, people who wish to prevent the building of huge dams have become increasingly organized and effective at bringing their message to wider public attention. The protesters range from environmental organizations such as the International Rivers Network, which is active on a variety of proposed dams, to the Save the Narmada Movement, which came into being to oppose a specific dam proposal. On the other hand, as Jacques Leslie notes at the end of Deep Water, in 2003 the World Bank announced a new water-resources policy that advocates just such projects. And ironically enough, industrialized nations, which have already built thousands of big dams, are now expending a vast amount of money and energy trying to determine how to reduce their negative effects. Presumably today's industrializing nations will have to work equally hard in the future to reverse the problems brought on by the current phase of dam construction. Those opposed to large dams can marshal a sobering array of criticisms based on those already built, which have provided some benefits but have without exception destroyed river environments and the human communities that depend on them."

The Pueblo Chieftain editorial staff is tickled pink that the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against Colorado Springs this week. They write, "The Sierra Club, one of the nation's most influential environmental groups, filed suit in Denver federal court this week against Colorado Springs for that city's repeated sewage spills into Fountain Creek. Welcome aboard. In October, Pueblo District Attorney Bill Thiebaut filed a separate suit in the court over the issue. Mr. Thiebaut's suit is asking the court to require Colorado Springs to take actions to eliminate future spills and to pay a civil penalty of up to $32,500 per day for each violation of the federal Clean Water Act. Just this year alone, two spills of sewage have befouled Fountain Creek, one in May and another in June. That latter spill saw more than 317,000 gallons of raw sewage come down the Fountain, prompting the local health department to post the creek as a significant health danger. Overall, records show 15 major sewage releases by Colorado Springs totaling more than 73 million gallons since 1998. A Sierra Club lawyer, Eric Huber, said this week's action likely will be joined with Mr. Thiebaut's suit. We urge that to take place, for together this would be a formidable team."

Category: Colorado Water

6:26:49 AM

Anchor babies
Here's an article from today's Denver Post dealing with the issue of children born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants [December 8, 2005, "Tancredo: Illegal immigrants' babies shouldn't be citizens"]. From the article, "It's been a cornerstone of American law since shortly after the Civil War: Children born in the United States become citizens, even if their parents are here illegally. Now some conservatives - including U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado - are taking aim at that birthright. They call the U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants 'anchor babies' because at age 18 the children can apply to bring other family members here from abroad. A growing group of House Republicans wants to change the policy. They hope to add a provision to the immigration bill that the House of Representatives will consider next week that would deny automatic citizenship to those children...Because of widespread opposition in the House and even more in the Senate, the measure is unlikely to become law, and would face a constitutional challenge in court if it did. But it promises to make the debate over illegal immigration even more divisive and could reverberate in next year's midterm elections...According to the Constitution's 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 to give former slaves U.S. citizenship, 'all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.' Tancredo said citizens of other countries are not subject to U.S. jurisdiction, and he added that drafters of the 14th Amendment did not intend it to apply to children of illegal immigrants."

Political Wire: "'The budding presidential ambitions of' Virginia Gov. Mark Warner (D) 'were nourished last night with the commodity all national political aspirants need -- a large dose of cash,' the Richmond Times-Dispatch reports. 'Warner's new political-action committee, called Forward Together, collected more than $2.5 million during its first fundraiser, setting a record for Virginia politics.'"

Category: 2008 Presidential Election

6:09:35 AM

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